Let The Rainbow Remind You
by sassymouse
Summary: A new evil is threatening Equestria and with Princess Twilight Sparkle gone and nopony to control the Element of Magic, Princess Celestia decides that Discord along with five other ponies must take control over the Elements of Harmony and save Equestria! A series following the adventures of the Key Six: Discord, Spitfire, Cheese Sandwich, Coco Pommel, Silver Shill and Seabreeze.
1. Reuniting a Rainbow, part 1

Fluttershy hummed one of the Ponytones' songs as she prepared her morning tea. After she had stirred the sugar into the teapot she placed it on her table and sat on the chair. She looked down to see a frustrated looking Angel. "Oh, I'm sorry, Angel Bunny. I'll get you your breakfast right away," Fluttershy quickly fetched a bowl and a couple of carrots and placed them on the ground. Angel dived in immediately, which was a relief since he was a very picky eater. Fluttershy returned to the table and reached for the teapot to pour some of the steaming hot drink into her teacup. She was scared out of her feathers when Discord's head popped out of the spout.

"Well, good morning Fluttershy!" He greeted as if there was nothing unusual about being in a teapot. Fluttershy flapped into the air in shock, giving out a small shriek.

"Oh Discord, you startled me," She whimpered as the draconequus slithered out of the teapot and sat in the chair opposite hers.

"Oh, my apologies," Discord said. It had been almost nine months since his reformation and the defeat of Tirek and Discord had been trying to quit his chaotic magic. But old habits die hard.

"Oh, it's okay," Fluttershy sat back on her chair and poured some tea into both hers and Discord's cups. "Did you have a nice sleep?" The Pegasus asked after taking a sip of her drink. Since his reformation Discord had been living in Fluttershy's cottage. She let him sleep on her couch, which Angel wasn't too pleased about to begin with, and do whatever he wanted, as long as whatever he wanted wasn't levitating her cottage off the ground and turning Angel into a footstool.

"I most certainly did. I had a wonderful dream about cookies raining from the sky," Discord recalled. "Speaking of which, would you like one?" Discord used his magic to make a cookie jar that looked like him appear. He opened the lid and pushed it towards Fluttershy. Fluttershy took a cookie and gratefully bit into it. "So, what are we going to do today?" Discord asked. "Skydiving, skating, putting mane dye in Rarity's shampoo?"

"Discord…" Fluttershy stared at the draconequus with a menacing glare. Discords smiled sheepishly.

"Hey, just because I'm not evil anymore doesn't mean I don't like to have fun," He said, folding his mismatched arms.

"Well, I need to go to Twilight's castle. I need to return the book I borrowed from her about bunny constipa-"

"Let's not go into details!" Discord exclaimed, not wanting to hear about Angel's medical problems.

"You're right. Sorry Discord. I always get carried away when it comes to taking care of animals," Fluttershy apologised. Discord gulped the rest of his tea and had another cookie then waited for Fluttershy to finish hers.

"Okay, let's go," Fluttershy announced, heading for the door. Discord reluctantly followed.

"Yay, nothing says fun like going to Twilight's boring castle/library," Discord grumbled. Fluttershy cast a threatening look over her shoulder, which was a rare thing for her to do. "What? I was only speaking the truth!" Discord defended himself. "Hmm… I suppose that's Applejack's influence.

…

"Why do royals like these really big doors?" Discord asked, craning his neck at the door to Twilight's castle. Fluttershy didn't reply, just knocked on the door. After a few moments, the door opened and Twilight's head poked out. She smiled at her two friends.

"Hi Fluttershy, hi Discord. What brings you here?" The princess asked.

"Oh, Twilight, do I have to have a reason to see my friend?" Discord asked sweetly.

"Yes," Twilight replied, simply.

"Okay, you got me. Fluttershy wants to return some book," Discord admitted.

"Oh yeah, I forgot I'd lent you that book on bunny-" Twilight was cut off when he mouth suddenly disappeared. The alicorn was a little shocked until she realised it was just Discord's freaky magic.

"Discord, you stop that right now, mister!" Fluttershy scolded her friend. Discord sighed and snapped his fingers, Twilight's mouth reappearing.

"Come on in," Twilight offered. Fluttershy walked inside and Discord followed, Twilight closing the door behind them. The three of them headed down the hallway and into the throne room. Fluttershy went through one of the side doors, towards Twilight's library, which she was currently restocking. All of her books had been destroyed during the battle with Tirek and she was trying to replace every single one of them. Discord sat down in Applejack's throne.

"I could get used to this," He sighed, putting his feet up on the arm of the throne.

"Well don't because I'm sure Applejack won't appreciate you hogging her throne," Twilight shot back. She used her magic to lift Discord off the throne.

"Well, if I had my own throne, we wouldn't have this problem. Even Spike has a throne for Celestia's sake!" He complained.

"Well, Spike is a true friend and he didn't betray his friends to help an evil villain destroy Equestria!" Twilight argued.

"Hey, will you two stop arguing," Fluttershy reappeared.

"Ugh…alright," Twilight quit arguing and sat down in her throne.

"Well, I think we should leave," Fluttershy told Twilight. "I need to go and get some more bird seed."

"I'll see you later then," Twilight waved. But before Discord and Fluttershy could leave they heard a crash coming from the stairs on the opposite side of the castle. They heard Spike's yelping. Sure enough he and a young light blue unicorn tumbled down them and skidded across the ground until they stopped right in front of Twilight.

"Oh my goodness, are you two alright," Fluttershy hurried over to them.

"Spike, Rainbook, what's going on?" Twilight asked them. The unicorn and dragon stood up. Spike began to explain.

"Um…well, we were bored… and then me and Rainbook noticed that the floor looked a little like ice…so we may have decided to try figure skating and…might have accidentally slipped down the stairs," The dragon confessed. Rainbook got to her hooves, brushing a lock of her purple mane out of her eyes.

"You have to admit, the crystal floor is kinda like ice," She added, sliding a forehoof along the floor to demonstrate. Rainbook had recently come to Ponyville from Trottingham to train as Twilight's apprentice in magic, by request of Princess Celestia. As her name suggested, the young unicorn loved books. Her cutie mark was a book with rainbow writing. It's funny how names work like that.

"I completely agree," Discord chuckled, using his magic to make ice skates appear on the feet of each pony and dragon. The draconequus did a series of grand plies across the crystal floor and then finished with a spin. Spike clapped, of course. With another flash of light the skates vanished.

"Well, you two go ahead to the market while I lecture these two about not messing around in the castle. Spike and Rainbook both hung their heads and groaned. Discord followed Fluttershy out of the castle, snickering.

…

"Thank you," Fluttershy waved to the pet store owner as she left with a sack of bird seed flung across her back. Discord always felt awkward in the market. Ponies would sometimes hide as he passed by and he often heard them whispering about him. He felt a little out of place in Ponyville. Most ponies still didn't trust him, though he didn't blame them. If he were one of them he wouldn't trust him, either. "Discord," Fluttershy broke into his thoughts. He yellow Pegasus looked up at him with concerned eyes. "Is something wrong?"

"Of course not," Discord lied. Somehow Fluttershy could always tell what he was thinking.

"Discord, I can tell something's bothering you and if you don't tell me I'll use 'The Stare' on you!" Fluttershy threatened. Fluttershy had used the stare on Discord several times before. It was pretty intimidating, even to him.

"Ugh, fine. I'll tell you," Discord sighed. He quickly tried to think of a way to weasel his way out of this. "Right after I go to that place where I think I left my…thing."

"Discord!" Fluttershy snapped, grabbing his tail in her mouth to stop him leaving. Discord muttered something unreadable under his breath and yanked his tail from Fluttershy's mouth.

"Fine, I'll say, I just didn't want to admit that…I think Ponyville is boring!" Discord blurted out. Fluttershy did look a little hurt at that statement, but she tried to support him.

"Well, what do you find so boring?" Fluttershy questioned him.

"Well…if you must know: everything!" Discord admitted. "Nothing ever happens here. Every single day is the same as the one before, we wake up, we go about our business and then we go back home again. It's like we're in a continuous loop!" Discord explained, levitating himself into the air and flying in a loop-the-loop.

"Well, I wish I could help you Discord, but I don't control what goes on in Ponyville," Fluttershy replied, shuffling her hooves. She paused for a second before looking back up at Discord. "But the Mayor does. Maybe we could go see her and ask if there are any events coming up," Fluttershy suggested. Discord thought it over.

"You know, that's not a bad idea. Why didn't I think of it," Discord agreed.

"Okay, then. Let's drop of this bird seed at the cottage and then we'll go to the Town Hall to see if the Mayor has planned any events," Fluttershy confirmed, setting off to her cottage again.

…

"Hello, anypony in there?" Discord called, banging on the door to the Town Hall. The Town Hall was usually open, but the door was locked.

"Maybe we should come back later?" Fluttershy suggested, turning to leave. Discord ignored her and knocked again. Discord finally gave in and came up with a different plan. He used his magic to teleport himself inside the Town Hall. There was nopony on the ground floor, so he decided to venture up the spiral steps to the second floor. Discord had never been up here and had no idea where he was going. He picked a random door and tried to push it open. It was locked, too. Discord thought for a while before getting an idea. He used his magic to make the door see-through. He peered through the door and was shocked to see Mayor Mare dying her mane grey. Discord quickly turned the door back to normal and raced back downstairs just in case she'd seen him. Discord teleported back outside, ignoring Fluttershy's attempts to find out what he'd done in there. In the end, Discord decided to just wait until the Mayor was finished, even though doing things the normal way wasn't exactly how he rolled. When the Mayor finally came to the door, Discord couldn't help staring at her grey mane and wondering why anyone would want a grey mane. Didn't she realise it made her look super old.

"…I said what do you need?" The Mayor broke into Discord's thoughts.

"Oh, yes. Fluttershy and I were wondering if there we any events planned.

"Well…hold on," The Mayor disappeared back inside. While she was gone, Discord turned to Fluttershy.

"Did you know the Mayor dyes her mane grey?" He asked.

"Um…yes. Lots of ponies know after it was published in the Foal Free Press," The pegasus replied.

"You mean that newspaper at the school that Applebloom and her friends go to?" Discord asked, wondering how Fluttershy got her hands on the paper.

"It's a long story," Fluttershy stated simply, since the Mayor was returning.

"Sorry, you two, but there are no events coming in the next month or two," The Mayor informed them. Discord was unnerved by the news. Nothing happened in this stupid town! It was so boring he wanted to faint. Discord began to fall backwards, summoning a fainting couch to land on. He was inspired by Rarity to do this. He noticed he was getting weird glares from Fluttershy and the Mayor, so he clicked his fingers and the couch disappeared, leaving him suspended in mid-air.

"Bet you thought I was gonna fall," He smirked.

"Thanks, anyway, Mayor," Fluttershy said, turning to head back to the cottage. Discord followed, his head hung and his trail dragging behind him on the rocky ground. Why, why, why couldn't Ponyville be fun?

…

That night, Discord sat on Fluttershy's couch, finding what entertainment he could in holding a carrot with his tail and pulling out it of Angel's reach every time the little bunny jumped up to try and grab it. Even that didn't lift his spirits. Fluttershy had long since gone to bed, leaving him alone. The night was the only time he really got to think. He thought of how much better his life had got since the defeat of Tirek. He should feel good, but he just felt empty. Was this how he was meant to spend his reformed days? Growing old on Fluttershy's couch? Well, technically he couldn't get old since he was immortal, but he knew what he meant. Discord finally gave the carrot to Angel after his tail got tired. The draconequus paced around the room, wallowing in his pity. He glanced out the window at the star-filled sky. The sky was endless, just like his life. Was he like the sky? Was he destined to do the same thing every day of his life? Discord opened the window and stuck his head outside, breathing in the cool night air. He stared up at the stars, his eyes settling on the brightest one. He had heard of wishing upon a star, but he'd only thought of it as a game invented by a little foal. But now, even that seemed to make sense. He couldn't believe he was going to do it. He closed his eyes and spoke, right from his heart.

"I wish that my life was exciting," He whispered. He opened his eyes, feeling ridiculous. He'd mock himself if he wasn't so depressed. He looked back at the star and could have sworn it blinked at him. For some reason, he felt a little better. He returned to the couch and curled up on it. Even though he knew that it was a bunch of crab-apples, he wanted his wish to come true.

He wanted it to come true really badly.

…

Discord was awoken by a gentle tapping on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked up to see Fluttershy smiling down at him. "Good morning, sleepy-head," She chirped. Discord sat up and stretched.

"Morning Fluttershy," He yawned. He stood up, blinking the last of the sleep out of his eyes.

"I made your favourite breakfast," Fluttershy informed Discord before trotting over to the table, where Discord could see a huge stack of pancakes, all covered with maple syrup, making his mouth water. Fluttershy, was right, it was the greatest breakfast ever. Discord snapped his fingers and disappeared, and appearing again not a moment later on one of the chairs with a napkin wrapped around his neck. Fluttershy let out a giggle at his behaviour and sat down, grabbed a couple of pancakes and putting them on a plate. Discord grabbed half of what was left of the pile and began eating, enjoying every bite. He'd forgotten all about his depression. If you wanted one sure-fire way to cheer up Discord, all you had to do was hand him pancakes smothered in syrup.

"So, what should we do today?" Discord asked with a mouthful of pancakes.

"Well, I suppose we could-" Fluttershy never finished her sentence because she was interrupted by frantic banging on the door. Fluttershy hurried to the door and opened it to see a flustered looking Rainbow Dash.

"Fluttershy, we gotta get to Twilight's castle right now. It's an emergency!" The pegasus informed her friend. Fluttershy covered to the ground.

"What kind of emergency?" She asked.

"Stuff's been happening all over town, all of Applejacks apples have grown legs, Rarity's dresses have been shredded, the market's been trashed and Twilight's GONE!" Rainbow Dash explained. Fluttershy gasped and turned to Discord.

"No time for breakfast Discord, we've got to get to the castle!" Fluttershy ordered.

"Oh, come on!" Discord complained, gulping his mouthful of pancake. "I'll just take some for the road," He added, unzipping a pocket that had suddenly appeared on his flank and tipping the remaining pancakes into it.

"Okay, that's weird," Rainbow Dash muttered. "Now, come on!" The cyan pegasus zoomed off.

…

When Discord, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash arrived at Twilight's castle, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rarity were already there. The giant door to Twilight's castle had been blown to smithereens. Rainbow Dash led the rest of them into the castle. Fluttershy stuck close to Discord, flinching at every noise they heard. "Spikey-wikey!" Rarity called out.

"For Celestia's sake, Rarity, don't be so loud. There could be somethin' in here," Applejack scolded the unicorn. Discord was sure that Spike would have replied. The small group of ponies and Discord walked through the Throne Room, which looked like it hadn't been touched. When they walked into the library, there were books everywhere, littering the floor and a few bookcases had been knocked over. Suddenly, they heard some faint mumbling coming from underneath one of the knocked over bookcases. Applejack and Rainbow Dash rushed over and lifted it up revealing a battered looking Rainbook with her hooves wrapped protectively around Spike.

"Oh my goodness," Fluttershy hurried to their side and helped them up.

"What happened, guys?" Rainbow Dash questioned them.

"I don't know," Spike shrugged. "One second I was asleep, the next Twilight was screaming. So I came down here with Rainbook to see what was going on. We saw Twilight running through the library and tried to follow her," Spike explained.

"Then, the next thing you know, the books are flying everywhere and a bookshelf nearly crushes us," Rainbook finished. The little unicorn scanned the group of ponies. "Where is Twilight?" She asked.

"We were hoping you'd know," Rarity replied, kicking one of Twilight's dusty books away from her.

"Hey!" Rainbook gasped, picking the book up. "Don't damage the books!" She scolded. Discord chuckled. Rainbook was very passionate about books. Discord suddenly heard some groaning coming from Spike. The baby dragon was clutching his tummy and making gagging noises.

"Lemme get that for you, Spike," Pinkie Pie offered, slapping Spike on the back, causing the dragon to belch out a puff of green smoke. A scroll hit Rainbow Dash in the face.

"Watch it," the pegasus grumbled, rubbing her sore nose. Rainbook levitated the scroll up with her magic, which was purple like Twilight's. She read the scroll quickly since she could speed-read and looked up with a serious expression on her face.

"Princess Celestia wants to see you five in Canterlot immediately," She informed, causing the ponies to exchange confused words. Rainbook read the end of the letter again. "…And she wants you to bring Discord."

"What?" Discord's ears pricked up. Why would Princess Celestia want to see him?

…

Canterlot! Discord had been to Canterlot many times, but he couldn't enjoy it since he was too filled with curiosity. "I wonder what Princess Celestia wants with us," Fluttershy thought out loud. Rainbow Dash replied.

"I have some idea," She said, shooting a glare at Discord. Did Rainbow Dash suspect that he had something to do with everything that had happened this morning? He and Rainbow Dash had always had this negative vibe with one another, but to go as far as to accuse him of Twilight's disappearance? Sometimes Rainbow Dash just got on his nerves. He, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Applejack arrived at Canterlot Castle in no time and even got a couple of the royal guards to escort them in. Discord felt a little uncomfortable as he walked into Celestia's throne room. He looked at all of the glass windows and was relieved to discover that they had been turned back to normal after he'd used his chaos magic to change them into his own amusing images. Both Princess Celestia and Luna were present, with a few more guards surrounding them. Celestia stepped forward to greet the guests.

"Hello, everyone," She smiled at them all, even Discord. Celestia turned to the guards and signalled for them to leave. For a moment Discord thought about how good it would be to have a bunch of ponies to serve him and do whatever he wanted twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week but banished the thought. When the guards were gone and the doors were closed, Celestia's smiled faded. "I heard the rumours. Twilight is gone, correct?" The princess asked, grimly. The six of Twilight's friends and slowly nodded their heads. Celestia sighed in sadness. "I called the six of you here because I have some idea as to who took Twilight," She explained.

"So she was foal-napped!" Pinkie Pie gasped. "Lemme at 'em!" the pink earth pony slugged Rarity on the arm playfully, making the unicorn glare at her.

"I also think that Discord might know who it is," Celestia added. Rainbow Dash zoomed over to the draconequus.

"So it was you!" She yelled, lunging at Discord's head. Discord simply split his head in half so that Rainbow Dash went right through him.

"Rainbow Dash, I'm sure it wasn't Discord," Fluttershy defended her friend.

"Fluttershy is correct, Rainbow Dash. I do not believe it was Discord, either," The princess explained. Rainbow Dash shot one last glare at Discord, her eyes screaming 'I've got my eye on you'.

"Well, who was it?" Applejack asked. Celestia turned to Discord.

"Discord, do you know anyone who could have caused as much damage and chaos as what you saw earlier?" The princess asked. Discord wondered what she meant. How was he meant to know? There was no one as good with chaos magic as him and although the thought of the dancing apples Discord had sighted earlier amused him, he wouldn't do such a thing. Suddenly a memory flickered in Discord's mind, a memory from when he was very young, a memory he had never thought he'd come across again.

…

Flashback

When Discord was young, he lived in a land populated by draconequus's. The land thrived on chaos magic. Only they all used it for good. Their entertainment was powered by chaos magic; they could make things from chaos magic. Chaos magic was the core of the land. Sure, there were those who used the magic for bad, but the only draconequus's who used their magic for extreme evil were, of course Discord, who back then didn't know he was going to be a villain, and one other…

"Hey dad!" Discord appeared out of thin air in front of his father's face, scaring the heck out of him.

"Discord, I'm not as young as I used to be, you need to go easy on me," His father scolded him, though smiling as he did. The two of them were in a park, one of Discord's favourite places.

"Do ya wanna play?" Discord asked, hopping on a roundabout and spinning it super quickly.

"I think I'm a little too old for that, Discord," Discord's father rolled his eyes. "I'll just watch you," He chuckled, his eyes growing larger, making Discord giggle. Discord played in that park for hours, having fun with the other little draconequus's. Little did he know that that day his life would change forever. Discord heard a huge commotion in the distance. He climbed to the top of the monkey bars to see what was going on. He saw a group of draconequus guards, who protected the land, chasing a cloud of grey smoke. They chased it around the park before it disappeared. The guards left the park, hunting for the cloud, leaving the park in the same silence it had been in before, besides the joyful squeals of the kids as they played. Discord caught something out of the corner of his eye: the cloud! It disappeared behind some trees. Discord's curiosity finally got the best of him. He checked to see if his father was watching; he was asleep on the bench, snoring embarrassingly loudly. Discord raced into the trees where the cloud of smoke had vanished. He peeked around every corner, not finding anything suspicious. Just when he was about to give up and go back to the monkey bars, someone lunged at him from the shadows, knocking him to the ground. He tried to scream but whoever had knocked him down had covered his mouth.

"Be quiet!" Discord couldn't see his attacker but he could tell it was a female. "Promise me you won't scream and I'll let you up." Discord nodded his head and his attacker stepped away so he could get up. Discord turned to see who had attacked him. It was a female draconequus who looked a little younger than his father. She had a snake tail, an eagle's claw and a bat wing like him, but unlike him, she had a tiger's paw, a swan's wing, her left leg was that of a kangaroos and her right leg was a flamingo's. Her white mane flopped into her eyes and tumbled down to her shoulder.

"Who are you?" Discord asked her, trembling a little. The female draconequus folded her arms.

"Why should I tell you? You could go blabbing to the guards," She replied. "Then again, the guards probably know about me already," She added, sounding proud. Discord was confused. Why would he tell the guards of her? What had she done?

"Um…have you seen a weird grey, smoky cloud anywhere?" Discord asked, remembering why he was here in the first place. The strange draconequus smirked.

"Yes, I might have seen a cloud pass by," She said. Discord titled his head.

"Might? That doesn't make any sense. Either you have seen it or you haven't," He said. The female let out a small chuckle.

"Kid, what fun is there in making sense?" She asked. Discord struggled to find an answer. "It was a rhetorical question," She added, in case Discord hadn't understood. She then snapped the finger on her eagle hand and shifted into the cloud! Discord's jaw dropped.

"You're the cloud?" He gasped and the cloud bobbed up and down like it was nodding. "So, the guards were chasing you? Why?" Discord asked. The cloud shifted back into a draconequus.

"Because apparently, there are laws against having fun," She spat. "I try and use chaos magic to take over that pathetic pony world one time and the next think you know I'm a wanted criminal!" She explained.

"But, isn't that a bad thing?" Discord asked. The female draconequus rolled her eyes.

"You're a weird kid. I'd have thought you'd have gone running to your mommy by now, tattling on me," She said, leaning against a tree. "Wanna see how much fun you can have with chaos magic?" She peered out from the trees, pointed her tail at a little draconequus playing on a slide and fired a burst of magic from it. The kid was a draconequus no longer, but an actual kid; a baby goat! The goat bleated in shock and bounded in frantic circles, while the others stared. Discord burst out laughing. That sure was funny.

"Hey, can I try Miss…er…?" Discord asked, realising that he still had no idea who this draconequus was.

"Meh, I think that you're cool enough for me to tell you," She decided. "The name's Eris."

"Eris…" Discord repeated. "Cool." He pointed his tail at another kid playing on a swing. He was a little surprised when the magic burst from his tail. The impact knocked him onto his rump and knocked the breath out of him. He got back to his mismatched feet and looked out at what he'd done. The kid he'd shot was now a monkey, swinging from the top of the swing (ironic). Eris beamed with pride at Discord.

"Not bad for a first try, kid," She praised. "Well, you know my name, so what's yours?"

"Discord," Discord replied. Eris playfully slapped him on the back.

"Well, you got skills, Discord, and believe me I don't say that often," She grinned.

"Discord, where are you?" Discord's father's voice boomed. Discord didn't want to come out from the trees. He was having too much fun.

"Looks like, you'd better get going, kid," Eris said with a flick of her tigers paw.

"Okay then. See ya, Eris," Discord waved and was about to leave when he got an idea. "Hey, are you gonna be here, tomorrow?" He added. Eris looked a little confused.

"Why?" Was all she said, sounding a little suspicious.

"I was hoping that you'd teach me some more of that chaos magic," He admitted. He really wanted to be taught more about the magic he wielded and Eris seemed to have had a lot of experience with it. A tiny smile graced Eris's face and she nodded.

"I don't see why not. Yeah, I'll be here tomorrow. Trust me, I'm not going anywhere," She said grimly. Discord said goodbye one last time before going back to his dad.

For years Eris taught Discord everything she knew and watched him grow into a powerful Master of Chaos. The two of them used chaos magic to create mayhem upon the land. Though, eventually both were caught. The two of them decided to take over Equestria, since it was Eris's dream to do so. Eris was captured by the royal guards and taken to Princess Celestia, leaving Discord to finish the job his teacher had started. But of course, he was captured, too, turned to stone by Celestia and Luna. All those years in his stone prison had made him forget most of his origins and even Eris. He never found out what became of her, though he hoped that she had the worst punishment there could possibly be.

End of flashback

…

"Eris," Was all Discord said. His voice was a mix of grief and anger. He hated Eris for what she turned him into, but missed her since she was like the mother he'd never had to him.

"Who's Eris?" Fluttershy asked. Discord explained how he'd met her and all she'd taught him. Discord turned to Princess Celestia.

"What happened to her?" He asked. He wanted to know what had happened to the draconequus who'd impacted his life so much. Celestia turned to Luna, who explained.

"After she was captured, my sister asked me to imprison her. I knew of one place she would never escape from…" The princess of the night looked out the window. "I banished her into space. I don't exactly know where in space, but I know from experience that she was not on the moon," She joked.

"Although it seems she did escape. We found this on my throne this morning," Celestia levitated up a scroll with a drawing of Eris making a funny face on it. Discord let out a silent chuckle at his old teacher's silliness.

"So ah'm guessin' ya want us to catch this Eris for ya?" Applejack guessed. Celestia shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Applejack, you won't be able to capture Eris without all six Elements of Harmony. She is just too powerful," Celestia explained grimly.

"Wait!" Pinkie Pie called out from the back of the group. "I just need to ask one very important question."

"Go ahead, Pinkie Pie," Celestia approved. They all stared at Pinkie, waiting for her to ask her question.

"Is Eris gonna make it rain chocolate milk too? Because I hope that she uses whipped cream with it," The earth pony asked, licking her lips at the thought of the chocolaty drink raining from the sky again. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

"Can we get back to the whole 'Equestria in danger' thing," The cyan pegasus asked.

"When you defeated Tirek, you opened a magical chest that gave you enough power to defeat him," Celestia explained. "But you didn't open it alone."

"Yeah, Twilight helped us," Applejack said. "But she's gone, so how's that gonna help us?"

"I don't mean Twilight. You used special keys to open the chest. Each key was given to you by somepony whose life each of you changed. I believe that they are the ones who can capture Eris," Discord did a double take. He was the one who gave Twilight her key, so he was supposed to capture his teacher! All the ponies were looking at him, as if they were expecting him to do something. They stared at him for what seemed like forever. He wished he knew what to do or say, but only one word popped into his head, so he spoke it:

"What?"

"Discord, it is you who must lead these ponies, and it is you who must capture Eris!" Celestia told the draconequus. Discord was torn. As much as he hated Eris for everything she had done, he also didn't want to be the one to capture the draconequus who had educated him in his magic and treated him like her son. It felt wrong and right at the same time and it hurt his head to think about it.

"Well, Discord, are you going to do it or not?" Rarity asked. It wasn't like Discord had a choice. Twilight, one of his best friends was gone, Eris was wreaking havoc upon Ponyville and, if they didn't do something fast, probably the whole of Equestria. He wasn't going to let his home be destroyed just because he cared a little for a villain who he hadn't even seen for a thousand years.

"I'll do it," He announced, trying to hide his sadness and guilt. Celestia smiled at him and that seemed to make him feel a little happier.

"Well, it's time for you to go and find your companions," the princess informed, gazing out the window, over Equestria. Discord still couldn't believe it. He was actually going to save Equestria…maybe.

…

"I can't believe this is really happening," Discord breathed. He and the ponies had returned to Ponyville and immediately decided what to do. They knew which pony to find first since they didn't really know where all the other ponies would be for sure. So that was why he and Rainbow Dash were now on their way up into the clouds.

"I know," Rainbow Dash agreed. "Who'd have thought Princess Celestia would choose you to catch Eris. The last time she chose you to do an important job, Equestria was nearly destroyed by Tirek. Discord resisted the urge to make the cyan mare's mouth disappear.

"No. I meant I can't believe I'm going to meet the Wonderbolts," Discord said. 'When I'm not trying to destroy them," He added to himself, remembering that when he'd encountered the Wonderbolts he'd helped Tirek steal their pegasus magic. Discord was doing the backstroke through the air, just a few feet behind Rainbow Dash, though he could tell that she was deliberately trying to outfly him. She wasn't going at her fastest speed because she knew she had to lead Discord to their destination, but she couldn't stand to be near him nonetheless. She let out a breath when she finally saw it.

"Discord, we're here," Rainbow Dash alerted the draconequus. Discord was still doing the backstroke, so he twisted his head upside down so he could see. "Welcome to the greatest city in the sky: Cloudsdale," Rainbow Dash presented. Discord had to admit that Cloudsdale did look pretty impressive. It was completely made up of clouds and pegasi flew everywhere he looked. There were rainbow waterfalls tumbling off the sides and for a moment Discord wondered what rainbows tasted like. Rainbow Dash touched down on the cloudy floor and Discord landed a second later. He began bouncing up and down on the cloudy floor.

"Oooh, bouncy!" He laughed. "Come on Rainbow Dash, try this, it's great," Discord began bouncing higher and higher earning stares from the pegasi that passed. Most of them had had their magic drained by Tirek and they recognised Discord from that time.

"Quit fooling around Discord," Rainbow Dash hissed. "We're meant to going to the Wonderbolts Academy, or had you forgotten?"

"Oh, you're no fun," Discord groaned. He trailed behind Rainbow Dash as she led him through Cloudsdale. He stopped a couple of times to see whether clouds tasted like cotton candy or if sticking his paw in a rainbow pool would turn it rainbow coloured but eventually they arrived at the Wonderbolts Academy. Once they got inside, Discord halted to look at all the Wonderbolt posters. Discord especially liked their uniforms and with a snap of his fingers, he found himself wearing one.

"Discord what are you doing?" Rainbow Dash asked impatiently upon seeing Discord in a Wonderbolt uniform. Discord smiled mischievously and struck a pose.

"Does this uniform make me look fat?" He asked, mimicking Rarity's voice. Rainbow Dash face-hoofed and began dragging Discord through the academy. They saw tons of cadets practising their tricks or working out. They didn't see any of the actual Wonderbolts until…

"SURPRISE!" A white pegasus with a yellow mane popped up in front of them. Rainbow Dah took a second to recover before speaking to the grinning pegasus.

"Hey there, Surprise, long time no see," She greeted. Discord noticed that Surprise looked a little like Pinkie Pie apart from the colours and race. Her mane was poofy, just like Pinkie's and she had the same eyes, big and bright, only hers were pink and Pinkie Pie's were blue. The two of them seemed just as perky as each other though.

"Oh my gosh, Rainbow Dash, it's so great to see you, I haven't seen you since the Equestria games, remember when we saw each other after the aerial relay and I said 'hi' and you waved and then-"

"Hold up, Surprise," Rainbow Dash stopped the excitable pegasus, placing a hoof on her shoulder to quiet her down. "Me and my... buddy here are looking for Spitfire. Surprise was quiet for a moment and although Discord had barely known this pegasus a minute he knew that this probably didn't happen often.

"Hey, aren't you the one who wiped out all of the pegasi when we tried to attack that huge guy from Tartarus with the horns and bad breath?" Surprise asked, her smile turning into a grimace.

"Well, technically, I wasn't the one who wiped out you and your fellow pegasi, Tirek did, other than that, yes," Discord replied with a nervous grin. He looked desperately at Rainbow Dash, hoping that she would tell Surprise that he was okay now. He'd have done it himself but he felt that saying that he was a good guy now would sound better coming from a pony that Surprise trusted. Luckily, Rainbow Dash did exactly that.

"Don't mind him, he's on our side now," The cyan pegasus told Surprise, who didn't seem to buy it. The grimace on her face stayed there for a couple more seconds before her giant smile reappeared.

"Okey-Dokey-Artichokey!" Surprise chirped. Discord breathed a sigh of relief. If Surprise was anything like Pinkie Pie when she got mad, things could have gotten pretty ugly if she didn't agree with Rainbow Dash. "So, you're looking for Spitfire, huh? Well, she's doing some cloud busting drills with Soarin and Fleetfoot," She informed them. "Follow me," She trilled, flapping off with Rainbow Dash and Discord in hot pursuit. Discord observed the various other things you could do in the Wonderbolts Academy. There was lap-racing, an air obstacle course that looked pretty fun, a big swirly thing that launched ponies into the air and racing.

"Hey, Surprise, can I try out that big spinny thingy other there?" Discord asked. Surprise looked like she was about to agree when Rainbow Dash butted in.

"We're not here to get spun around on the Dizzitron; we're here to find Spitfire!" Rainbow Dash reminded the draconequus. "Sorry about him, Surprise," Rainbow Dash apologized to Surprise who smiled sheepishly.

"That's okay, I don't think…whatever you are's are allowed on the Dizzitron," She said, making Discord roll his eyes. He was about to tell Surprise what species he was when the white pegasus told them that they were at the cloud busting section of the academy. Discord looked up to see three Wonderbolts clearing the sky of clouds. They were all very fast, probably the fastest pegasi he'd ever seen besides Rainbow Dash. He was surprised to see them out of their Wonderbolt uniforms. The Wonderbolts certainly looked different when they weren't covered in blue and yellow material. Rainbow Dash was staring at the three of them in fascination.

"Hey, Spitfire, Rainbow Dash wants to see you!" Surprise called up. One of the pegasi, a yellow mare with an orange and yellow spiked mane and tail looked down and smiled at them, lifting up her goggles to reveal a pair of brilliant orange eyes.

"I'll be down in a moment," She called down in her raspy voice. Spitfire put her goggles back on and began zooming around the sky busting a cloud a millisecond. Discord's jaw dropped with shock. Spitfire could actually be faster than Rainbow Dash! He didn't think it could be possible. The two Wonderbolts with her paused at their teammate's sudden speed and waited for her to clear the rest of the sky. When Spitfire was done she flew down to greet Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, Spitfire, it's been a while," Rainbow Dash smiled at her idol. Spitfire removed her goggles once again.

"It's great to see you, too, Dash," She replied, hoof bumping Rainbow Dash. The two other Wonderbolts, Soarin and Fleetfoot joined her on the cloudy ground.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash, great to see ya," the stallion, Soarin, said. The other mare Wonderbolt, Fleetfoot smiled at Rainbow Dash.

"Watcha doin' here, Rainbow Dath," She asked. She spoke with a lisp and that made Discord giggle a little. Fleetfoot must have noticed because she looked up at Discord. "Hey, you're the one who worked with that Tirek guy," She realised. "Lemme at him!" She cried, lunging at him. Surprise grabbed Fleetfoot's tail.

"Don't worry 'bout him, he's good," Surprise told Fleetfoot, who grudgingly flew back down to the ground. Spitfire looked a little uncomfortable in the presence of Discord but gave him a lopsided smile anyway.

"Well, Discord, isn't it. Why are you here with Dash?" the Wonderbolt captain asked. Discord was a little surprised at Spitfire. He'd expected her to at least get a little mad at him. Discord suddenly realised he had no idea how to explain what was going on. What should he say? 'Hey, Spitfire, you need to come to Ponyville to help me and a bunch of random ponies fight an evil villain who makes apples dance!' He didn't think that sounded too good. He looked at Rainbow Dash, hoping she'd lend him a hoof here, but then again it would probably sound insane coming from her, too.

"Well, Princess Celestia sent me to find you because…" He fumbled for the right words. "Let me start over. I'm not sure if you know, but that Wonderbolt pin you gave Rainbow Dash turned into one of six magical keys that opened a chest and gave Dash and her friends' crazy rainbow powers that saved Equestria from Tirek," Discord explained. It sounded good so far. "Well, there's this evil villain, Eris, who captured Princess Twilight Sparkle and ransacked her castle and Princess Celestia thinks that you, me and the other four ponies who gave Twilight and her friends the keys are the ones who have to stop her!" Discord stopped ranting and took a huge gulp of air since that was probably the longest sentence he had ever said. Spitfire just stared blankly at him, and then she turned to Rainbow Dash and Surprise.

"Is this some kind of joke?" She asked. She looked pretty ticked. Surprise shrugged.

"Beats me," The chipper pegasus replied.

"He's telling the truth," Rainbow Dash told Spitfire. "Twilight really is gone and there really are six ponies who the princess thinks could defeat Eris. And you're one of them," She explained. Discord had no idea if Spitfire was going to believe them or not, but he was leaning more towards the not believing part since all of this was pretty crazy. He wouldn't believe them if he was her. Spitfire sighed and looked Rainbow Dash right in the eye.

"Ya know, Dash, this is the craziest thing I've ever heard," She said. Discord didn't like the looks of things. It didn't seem like she was going to believe them. "But, I trust you, so I guess I believe you," She added. Discord exhaled in relief because if Spitfire didn't agree to come to Ponyville with them, they were all doomed.

"Thanks, Spitfire. I promise you that this isn't a joke; cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," Rainbow Dash said, doing the Pinkie Promise. Spitfire looked back at Soarin and Fleetfoot.

"Well, guys, It looks like I'm going to Ponyville," Spitfire said to them, shrugging. Fleetfoot still looked a little uneasy at the fact that her captain was going with Discord, but didn't say anything.

"We'll see ya later then, Spit," Soarin grinned. Spitfire sneered at him.

"Don't call me Spit. You know I hate that!" The Wonderbolt captain scolded her co-captain. Soarin knew that Spitfire meant business when she was mad, so he waved at her and zoomed off towards the mess hall. Fleetfoot watched him fly off before turning back to Discord, Rainbow Dash, Spitfire and Surprise.

"Good luck thaving Equethtria!" Fleetfoot waved before following Soarin. Spitfire waved after her teammates before turning to Surprise.

"Surprise, you can hit the mess hall, too. I'm assuming you've finished observing the cadets on the air-obstacle course. That busted cloud-maker's making it really dangerous," Spitfire told Surprise, who turned even whiter.

"Oh dear," She squeaked before whizzing off to make sure the cadets were okay. She whizzed back a second later. "Good to see ya, Rainbow Dash, nice meeting you, Discord, see ya later, Spitfire, bye!" She then whizzed off again, panicking. Spitfire face hoofed at her teammate's behaviour before turning to Rainbow Dash.

"Okay then, lead the way, Dash."

…

Discord and Rainbow Dash, now joined by Spitfire, flew back through the clouds towards Ponyville. The journey back seemed a lot duller than the journey to Cloudsdale, probably because Ponyville was a dull place. Rainbow Dash was at the head of the trio with Spitfire right behind her and Discord bringing up the rear. Discord got bored and summoned a cloudy bed to relax on. Another snap and a propeller appeared at the end of the bed, blowing him along after the two pegasi. For the first time, Discord noticed Spitfire's cutie mark. He couldn't exactly tell what it was, and tried to guess. Maybe it was a ball of fire or a flying flame? No, that wouldn't make sense. He spent a couple more minutes trying to figure out what it was when he was snapped out of his daze.

"What are you looking at?" Spitfire's voice broke into his thoughts, scaring the horns off him, literally, although they appeared on his head again a moment later. The yellow pegasus was giving him a death glare. She'd caught him staring at her cutie mark. Did she think…oh no…she couldn't. Discord blushed at what he thought she thought he was looking at.

"I was just wondering what your cutie mark was!" Discord admitted, sticking his hands in the air. Spitfire face softened a little, looking relieved.

"Lots of ponies ask that," She told Discord. "It's the consumption of a phoenix." Discord just stared at her blankly.

"All I just heard was blah, blah, phoenix," Discord told the Wonderbolt. Spitfire rolled her eyes and plastered a phoney smile on her face and spoke in a high pitched voice as if she were talking to a little foal.

"When a phoenix go bye-bye, he bursts into flames," She squeaked before her stony expression appeared on her face again. "That's what my cutie mark is," Spitfire noticed that she had fallen behind Rainbow Dash a little, so she put on an extra burst of speed to catch up with her. 'Sheesh' Discord thought, plumping his cloudy pillow and resting his head on it. Hopefully the other ponies weren't going to be as difficult as Spitfire. The yellow pegasus seemed fun and cool, but he figured it was going to be heard to get along with her. Ponyville was now in sight and Rainbow Dash and Spitfire began to descend from the sky. Discord floated down on his cloud bed. If only Fluttershy's couch was this comfy. When his cloud-bed touched down on the ground he leapt out of it, immediately missing its warm, fluffy feel. The ponies had all agreed to meet in Carousel Boutique once they'd got Spitfire. Discord, Rainbow Dash and Spitfire walked into the boutique to find Applejack and Rarity arguing.

"Look, for the tenth time, and ah have been countin', there is no mud on that dress," Applejack told Rarity.

"Well there wasn't until you put your filthy hooves all over it," Rarity shot back, clutching the dress to her chest. Discord heard Spitfire mutter something under her breath, so the draconequus bent his head down to speak to her.

"Is there something bothering you, Spitfire?" Discord asked. Spitfire gave him a look as if to say 'none of your beeswax' but answered anyway.

"That unicorn almost killed me," She replied, shuddering a little. Discord was confused. Was she talking about Rarity, the pony that wouldn't hurt a fly unless she really had to? Though, Spitfire wasn't finished speaking. "In the Best Young Flier competition she entered with a pair of fancy-schmancy wings and they burnt up. Soarin, Misty Fly and I tried to save her but she knocked us all out 'cause she was kicking around too much," The pegasus explained. "It was the most embarrassing moment of my life…other than that time at the Equestria Games when that little dragon sang that ridiculous anthem."

"Ouch," Discord muttered. Spitfire had bad history with Rarity, which could either make this a lot harder or a lot more amusing. Discord left Rainbow Dash and Spitfire to deal with Applejack and Rarity and went upstairs. In Rarity's designing room he found Fluttershy with Pinkie Pie, Spike and Rainbook. Pinkie Pie and Spike were in deep conversation, so Discord decided to eavesdrop. He made his ear stretch out until it was close enough to hear what they were saying.

"Okay then, Pinkie. I bet you 10 bits that Spitfire won't come back with them," Spike was saying to the pink earth pony. Pinkie frowned.

"Aw, that's not fair. I don't think she'll come back either," She groaned. Discord pulled his ear back into his head and cleared his throat, making Spike and Pinkie Pie jump. Pinkie Pie jumped so high that her head hit the ceiling.

"Oh, hey Discord, you're back," Fluttershy greeted, having not noticed Discord when he came into the room. Discord was about to tell Pinkie Pie and Spike that neither of them were going to get any money when some loud grunting interrupted him. Discord turned to see what was making the noise. Rainbook was trying to fix Rarity's electric fan with her magic and was having trouble fixing the top of the fan onto the stand. He could see why she was doing it since it was a really hot day. Discord had almost taken off his fur coat, but thought that it would be a little disturbing to the others.

"Need some help there, kiddo?" Discord asked, stretching his neck over to the teenage unicorn. Rainbook gave one more heave of the screw before replying.

"No thanks, Discord, I'm fine," she panted before going back to trying to get the screw in. Discord turned back to Pinkie Pie and Spike. He couldn't wait to see the look on their faces when he told them that Spitfire was downstairs right now.

"May I give you the results of your bet?" Discord asked, smirking. Spike and Pinkie Pie exchanged glances.

"But we haven't even agreed on it yet," Spike pointed out.

"Well, there's no time for that!" Discord snapped, scaring Spike a little. In a puff of smoke an envelope appeared in Discords lion paw and a microphone appeared in his eagle claw, then in another puff of smoke he was wearing a tuxedo. He cleared his throat before speaking into the microphone. "Ladies and gentledragon, I will now reveal the result of Pinkie and Spike's bet!" He announced. Fluttershy covered her ears due to the volume of Discord's voice now. Discord slowly opened the envelope. Pinkie Pie and Spike's eyes grew wider with anticipation. Discord opened his mouth to reveal the result. Why was he taking so long? "The winner of the bet is…" Discord pulled a card out of the envelope. Pinkie and Spike leaned forward, really wanting to know the answer. "…is…" Spike fell over because he was leaning too far forward. "…is…"

"JUST SAY IT ALREADY!" Pinkie Pie yelled, her nostrils flaring. Discord glared at the pink earth pony.

"Neither of you win!" Discord revealed, the microphone, envelope and tuxedo disappearing. Pinkie Pie and Spike swapped shocked looks. "Because Spitfire is downstairs right now," He grinned. Suddenly Rainbook gasped, releasing the screw.

"Spitfire's really here!?" She exclaimed gleefully. Suddenly the top of the electric fan fell off the stand and landed on Rainbook's head. The blue unicorn was a huge Wonderbolt fan and also a total clutz. The top of the fan was actually stuck on her head. She looked ridiculous inside the fan. She wobbled around, stunned from the blow. "I'm okay. I just hurt my face," She said, trying not to worry her friends too much. Spike and Pinkie fell on the floor laughing and Discord chuckled as well. Discord left Fluttershy trying to pull the fan off Rainbook's head and Pinkie Pie and Spike struggling to breathe and headed back to Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, Applejack and Rarity. The argument had finally ended, though Rarity did still look a little annoyed. They were all sitting down, while Applejack handed round some apple cider. It was cider season and the orange earth pony always had some spare cider for her friends.

"So Dash and that friend of hers weren't lying about all this?" Spitfire asked, looking a little bewildered at all of this. Rainbow Dash nodded before swallowing her mouthful of cider.

"And just for the record, I wouldn't exactly call Discord my friend," She told the Wonderbolt. Discord scowled.

"Well, thanks a lot," He grumbled, making the others jump as they hadn't noticed him come in. "I'm not getting you a birthday present now," Discord added, sitting down on Rarity's soft pink couch and folding his mismatched arms.

"Do you even know when my birthday is?" Rainbow Dash asked, grimacing. Discord bit his lip, realising he had no idea when Rainbow Dash's birthday was. Discord shook his head and Rainbow Dash had a look that practically screamed 'that's what I thought'.

"Well, I know somepony who knows when my birthday is, and that's who we're gonna find next," Rainbow Dash told the others. Discord had heard Rainbow Dash brag about how epic her birthday party was many times before. Apparently, Pinkie Pie teamed up with a pony named Cheese Sandwich to throw Rainbow Dash her birth-iversary party.

"So, Rainbow Dash, are you going to go and help find Cheese Sandwich?" Rarity asked the cyan pegasus. Rainbow Dash nodded.

"Sure, I'll go. Spitfire and Pinkie Pie can come, too," Rainbow Dash decided. Discord was a little mad at Rainbow Dash. Wasn't he meant to lead these ponies? That was all the more reason for him to come along. Discord stomped over to Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, why can't I come? I'm meant to lead these ponies to victory, so why can't I come and meet this Cheese Sandwich?" Discord shot Spitfire a look that said 'you answer to me now, Wonderbolt,". Spitfire didn't look pleased at the news that he was her superior now, but she didn't say anything and carried on sipping her cider. Applejack stepped forward.

"As much as ah hate to say it, I think Discord should go. It'll give him a chance to get to know the ponies he'll be workin' with," Applejack said. Rarity nodded her head in agreement.

"I'm with Applejack; Discord should go with you. Besides, the further he is away from my dresses the better," The white unicorn agreed whispering the last half. Discord was ticked with all of them. Hadn't he proved that he was a good guy now? Still, they all treated him like he was still an evil master of chaos…although he was still a master of chaos when he thought about it.

"Ha, two against one, Rainbow Dash!" Discord taunted in a sing-song voice. Rainbow Dash folded her hooves.

"No, Spitfire hasn't said whether she wants you to go or not," She argued, nodding her head in Spitfire's direction. The Wonderbolt was silently drinking her cider, pretending to ignore them. Rainbow Dash gave Spitfire a sharp tap on the shoulder and gasped as she realised she had just practically punched a Wonderbolt. "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry!" Rainbow Dash babbled.

"Don't sweat it, Dash," Spitfire muttered. The Wonderbolt obviously knew she had to answer. "Well, if he's 'the leader' then I guess he should come with us," She said through gritted teeth. Discord couldn't believe she'd said that. Maybe there was a chance that they could be friends. Discord knew that if they wanted to catch Eris, he had to befriend all of the ponies in his team. Discord felt a sudden burst of kindness (probably Fluttershy's influence) and decided to use this opportunity to build his friendship with Spitfire.

"Um…Spitfire, I know that you're used to being in charge and all and you're used to it, but maybe you can settle for being my second in command?" Discord offered. Spitfire stared at Discord for a second; probably wondering if this was a trick. But Discord could think of nopony else he would rather has as his deputy or number two. After what seemed like forever a small smile graced Spitfire's face and she answered.

"Sure, I'll be your deputy," She agreed. Discord grinned, realising that Spitfire would make a great friend. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie came bounding into the room followed by Spike. Pinkie Pie looked super excited.

"So are we gonna find Cheese yet?" Pinkie asked, jumping up and down on the spot. Spike looked at Rainbow Dash with a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Can I come, too?" He asked, giving Rainbow Dash puppy dog eyes. Rainbow Dash wasn't the kind of pony who'd fall for a trick like that, so she shook her head.

"Sorry Spike, you need to stay here in case Princess Celestia sends us any letters," The pegasus told him firmly. Since Twilight wasn't here, Rainbow Dash had assumed the position of leader and was now in charge of making most of the decisions. There were some grunts and shrieks as Fluttershy and Rainbook tumbled in. Rainbook's head was still stuck in the fan and Fluttershy was trying to heave it off.

"Hold still!" Fluttershy ordered Rainbook, giving the fan another tug. Discord could practically see Rainbook's neck stretching.

"It's kinda hard when you're pulling my head off!" Rainbook retorted. Fluttershy accidentally let go of the fan and Rainbook flew backwards across the room, skidding to a halt at Spitfire's hooves. The Wonderbolt captain had experienced a lot of craziness in the short time she had been here. Rainbook groaned from the impact and looked up, noticing Spitfire for the first time. The unicorn gasped and jumped to her hooves, seeming to forget about the electric fan still stuck on her head. "I am a huge fan!" Rainbook squealed, hopping from hoof to hoof. Spitfire stared at the fan Rainbook had on her head.

"Yes, you are," She replied dryly. Discord snapped his eagle claw and the fan vanished from Rainbook's head.

"Phew. You have no idea how dusty it was in there," the blue unicorn commented, sitting beside Fluttershy on Rarity's couch.

"So on that weird note, should we leave?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Agreed," Spitfire replied, getting up and walking to the door with Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Discord following. Pinkie Pie hopped along beside Discord, chattering away like a hyperactive parrot.

"Isn't this exciting, we're gonna find Cheese Sandwich, I've never been more excited except for that time that I first met Twilight and went *GASP*, oh, and that time that you made it rain chocolate milk and that time that-"

"Pinkie Pie, I have something to tell you," Discord stopped the pink earth pony. Pinkie Pie's eyes bulged.

"Oh, let me guess, you saw a chocolate hamster? No, you met a griffin who sells hats! She wasn't called Gilda was she, because she's a big meany-pants!" Pinkie ranted, not even stopping to breathe.

"No, I met a pegasus who looks and acts exactly like you," Discord told her. Pinkie Pie gasped.

"Really, was her name Pinkie Pie, too? Does she like parties, maybe I could throw her a 'Congratulations, we're doppelgangers party!" Pinkie rambled excitedly.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call Surprise your doppelganger," Discord said. He was about to tell his excitable friend that Surprise had a different coloured coat, mane and eyes and she was a pegasus but Pinkie Pie gasped again.

"Her name is Surprise? She sure sounds like she loves parties! Is she a party planner, too?" Pinkie asked.

"No, Surprise is a Wonderbolt," Discord replied. For the umpteenth time, Pinkie gasped, hopping up and down around and around Discord, making his eyes spin round in his head, literally.

"My doppelganger is a Wonderbolt, I wish I could meet her, or maybe she could come to Ponyville and see me, I'm sure we'll get along and we'll be bestest best friends forever and ever!" Pinkie didn't look like she would stop anytime soon so Discord walked faster to catch up with Rainbow Dash. He tapped the cyan pegasus on the shoulder, making her whip around with irritation.

"Dash, how do you know where this 'Cheese' pony is anyway?" Discord asked. Rainbow Dash's stern gaze softened a little as she realised that Discord was actually saying something that wouldn't get on her nerves.

"Well, I thought it would be hard to find him since he's a travelling pony, but apparently while we were away finding Spitfire, Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense kicked in and it told her that Cheese Sandwich was at Winsome Falls," Rainbow Dash informed him. Discord had heard of Winsome Falls. Ponies didn't live there but it was a popular destination for sightseers and campers. He recalled those Cutie Mark Crusaders telling him about a camping trip there. He hadn't really listened to much of it since the story had gotten boring very quickly. He'd heard a part about Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash flying through the falls. A small part of him wanted to tease Rainbow Dash for being a softie towards the orange filly, but he knew that right now wasn't the best time. Then another thought popped into his head.

"How are we getting to Winsome Falls? We're not walking the whole way are we?" Discord asked, his legs aching just thinking about the long trek. "I can't walk that far, I'd fall apart," He whined. For extra emphasis he made his head fall off his shoulders, followed by his arms, and then the rest of him fell to the floor, too.

"No way, it's a whole two days walk. I can't survive that long with you and Pinkie Pie driving me out of my mind," Rainbow Dash said, half chuckling half groaning. "We're flying there, it's a lot quicker."

"But, I'm not sure if you've noticed but Pinkie Pie can't fly," Discord pointed out, putting himself back together. Rainbow Dash smiled mischievously at him. Discord didn't like where this was going, but he couldn't do anything to avoid Rainbow Dash's sinister plan. Ten minutes after he'd asked how Pinkie Pie was going to fly, Discord was soaring through the sky after Rainbow Dash and Spitfire, frowning the biggest frown he had ever frowned. He was slowed down by the weight of Pinkie Pie on his shoulders.

"So Discord, what sounds better, chimicherry or cherrychanga? Chimicherry, cherrychanga?" Pinkie Pie rambled. Discord resisted the urge to launch her off his shoulders. He used his magic to summon some earplugs, which he wedged in his ears as tightly as he could. He hoped that Winsome Falls wasn't that far because he wasn't sure how much he could take of this.


	2. Reuniting a Rainbow, part 2

Discord almost danced with joy when he finally saw rainbow waterfalls in the distance. They looked exactly as he'd imagined. It was right there in front of him, it was still far away but it still gave him hope that he could survive this. It felt like he was clinging to the edge of sanity as Pinkie Pie ranted on and on about the most ridiculous things ever. They got closer and closer until finally they touched down beside one of the rainbow waterfalls, right In the middle of Pinkie Pie's rant about raisins. Pinkie Pie hopped off of Discord's shoulders and hopped over to one of the waterfalls, still ranting. Discord decided that her rants sounded better further away. He looked around, noticing that there was no sign of anypony. Rainbow Dash and Spitfire looked as confused as he was, his expression mirrored on their faces.

"So, am I right to assume that your pink friends 'Pinkie Sense' is a bunch of crab-apples?" Spitfire asked. Rainbow Dash rapidly shook her head.

"No way, Pinkie's Pinkie Sense is always right. It doesn't make much sense, but it's never wrong," Rainbow Dash replied. "Cheese Sandwich had gotta be around here somewhere, we just need to look around," Rainbow Dash decided. She began zooming around to look behind one of the waterfalls a couple of metres away. Spitfire didn't seem comfortable taking orders from another pony but she did as she was told anyway, whizzing off to check the furthest waterfall. Discord watched her speed off, taking note of the awesome fiery trail she left behind her. She would certainly be a great addition to his team and hopefully this Cheese Sandwich character would be two. While the two pegasi checked behind the waterfalls and Pinkie Pie splashed around in one of the rainbow pools, Discord headed in the opposite direction to look for Cheese Sandwich. There was a long winding dirt path leading up a rocky mountain. Discord headed for it and began climbing up it. Even if he didn't find Cheese Sandwich up there, there was a great view up there so he could see for miles. He could maybe see him from up there. Discord sauntered along the path, for the first time since last night that he had been able to think. He'd asked for something exciting to happen and this sure was exciting. He was on a mission to find a team of ponies that he was going to lead to embark on a dangerous mission to save Equestria from an evil villain. If that wasn't an epic adventure, he didn't know what was.

His wish had come true!

Discord reached the top of the mountain. It was a small mountain compared to most of the ones he had seen in Equestria, but it was still a breath-taking view. He could see Canterlot from here and if he squinted he could see Ponyville. This was only part of Equestria, thought. Equestria stretched out even farther, so far that it seemed almost impossible for anything to be so big. But it was that big, and if Princess Celestia was right, he was going to save all of it. Discord didn't know how long he had stood there but his thoughts were broken into by the sound of exhausted grunting. He twisted his head around 180 degrees like an owl to see a lanky orange stallion wearing a white and grey woollen poncho sauntering up the hill. He was sweating as if he'd been walking for days. When he reached the top of the hill he sat his rump down on a rock and exhaled loudly.

"It's been quite a ride, eh, Boneless 2?" The stallion turned around, speaking in a deep, gruff voice. Discord was confused at his behaviour. Who was he talking to? There was nopony else there. Discord then sighted a rubber chicken with a red number 2 printed on it perched on the stallions back. Whoa, this guy must have lost his mind somewhere on his way up the hill. "I hope whoever needs this party will appreciate it," He added, turning around and seeing Discord for the first time. Discord expected him to jump but instead the stallion smiled a huge goofy grin. "Hi there!" He waved, his voice suddenly becoming a lot more cheerful and childish. Discord awkwardly waved back. The stallion hopped over to him and reached out his hoof for Discord to shake, which he accepted after some hesitation. "Are you the one who needs a party?" The stallion asked. Discord remembered this stallion mentioning a party to his rubber chicken friend.

"Um…no, my birthday was three months ago," Discord replied, releasing his grip on this strange pony's hoof. The smile never left the stallions face as he revealed that he wasn't the one he was looking for.

"Well, maybe you need an after birthday party!" He suggested, shrugging. Discord had been to and after birthday party before. It was planned by Pinkie Pie for Rarity after her birthday.

Wait.

Discord suddenly realised how stupid he was being. There was a pony right in front of him, he was perky and a little crazy, a cutie mark that looked like an accordion made out of a sandwich showed on his flank and he was a party planner. Could this be the pony they were looking for?

"Sorry, can I go off topic for a moment?" Discord asked and without waiting for an answer he asked the pony: "By any chance is your name Cheese Sandwich?"

"Oh, you've heard of me?" He asked, raising his chest proudly. Yes! Pinkie Pie was right!

"Pardon me for a second," Discord said, summoning a megaphone out of thin air and yelling into it. "GUY'S, I'VE FOUND HIM!"

"What-?" Cheese Sandwich began to ask but was interrupted by two streaks zooming through the air towards them, one fiery and one rainbow-ish. Rainbow Dash and Spitfire landed beside Discord. Rainbow Dash stepped toward Cheese Sandwich, smiling, and hoof-bumped him.

"What's up, Cheese, long time no see," Dash greeted. Cheese Sandwich smiled even wider.

"Rainbow Dash, it's good to see you. It's been a while since that epic party I threw you," He replied. The group heard some springy noises coming towards them and saw Pinkie Pie bounding towards them.

"Cheese!" Pinkie exclaimed, launching herself at him and tackling him to the ground, somehow managing to keep his rubber chicken on his back. Pinkie squeezed him tightly, almost making him gag. Rainbow Dash stepped forward to unlatch Pinkie Pie from Cheese Sandwich.

"It's good to see you too, Pinkie Pie," Cheese smiled, half sarcastically. Rainbow Dash looked up at Discord.

"I see you've already met Discord," the rainbow-maned pegasus asked, nodding at the draconequus. Cheese Sandwich nodded.

"Discord, eh? Strange name, but, my name's pretty cheesy, too," the orange earth pony joked, making Discord laugh. He had a feeling he was going to like Cheese Sandwich. Cheese suddenly noticed Spitfire. "I don't need to be introduced to you," he grinned. "You're Spitfire the Wonderbolt captain."

"Yes, yes I am," Spitfire replied, reaching out her hoof for him to shake. Cheese Sandwich shook his head.

"Sorry, I don't shake," Cheese Sandwich declined the gesture before continuing. "If there's one thing that anypony has to know about me, it's that I'm a hugger!" He finished and before Spitfire could protest he lunged forward and wrapped the yellow pegasus in a tight hug. Discord chuckled at his behaviour and Spitfire's reaction. The Wonderbolt stood rigid with a look of shock on her face at this strange stallion's craziness. She shot Discord a bone chilling glare as she heard him giggle. When Cheese Sandwich finally released Spitfire, he turned back to Rainbow Dash. "So what brings you to these parts? Sightseeing?"

"Nah, we're here to find you," Rainbow Dash replied. Cheese Sandwich glowed.

"So, you need another party. Why didn't you say so? This is a perfect spot for a party, I'm thinking we could tie some balloons to those rocks over there and-"

"Not for a party," Discord stopped the rambling earth pony in his tracks. "We're here to recruit you for a dangerous mission!" Discord waited for the Earth pony to respond. He stared at them blankly for a while before replying.

"Okay," He chirped.

"Huh?" Discord asked. "You seriously believe us just like that?"

"Well, aren't you telling the truth?" Cheese Sandwich asked. Rainbow Dash took up their conversation.

"Trust me, Cheese, usually I wouldn't believe a single word Discord says, but this time, he's actually telling the truth. Princess Celestia wants you, Discord, Spitfire and three other ponies to save Equestria from a villain named Eris," The cyan mare explained.

"Yeah, Cheese, you're gonna be a hero!" Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing up and down. Cheese joined in with the bouncing.

"This is awesome! My Cheesie Sense was right!" Cheese Sandwich cheered.

"Cheesie Sense?" Spitfire asked.

"Yeah, Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich both have special senses that tell them different things," Rainbow Dash explained. Spitfire turned to Discord.

"Does everypony here have a special sense?" Spitfire asked.

"Well, not everypony, but sometimes when there are magic disruptions in Equestria, I go all squiggly like this," Discord demonstrated by wiggling like a worm. Spitfire acknowledged this with a simple nod. She had experienced a lot of crazy things today and seemed to be getting used to it. She was going to have to if she was to be Discord's deputy.

"My Cheesie Sense told me that there was gonna be one doozy of a party here and I guess it was sorta right!"

"Yeah, that was one doozy of a doozy!" Pinkie Pie chirped.

"I am so nervouscited!" Cheese told the others, them frowned a little. "But now I have 900 of these and now I don't know what to do with them," He lifted up his grey and black hat and a bunch of balloons floated out. This guy was full of surprises, but where in Celestia's name was he keeping the rest of his balloons?

…...

The five companions were on their way back to Ponyville. Spitfire had offered to let Pinkie Pie ride on her back and the pink mare was currently pestering Spitfire with questions about Surprise. Spitfire had put up with it for longer than he had expected, but she had to crack sooner or later. She seemed like one of those ponies that had a short temper, but she was dealing very well with the most annoying thing in Equestria. Cheese Sandwich was riding on Discord's back. He had been telling Discord about some of the parties he'd planned, including Rainbow Dash's birth-iversary. Discord had heard the story about seven times before from Rainbow Dash, so he just dozed through that one. How did he fly and sleep, you ask? It was a trick he'd mastered while flying with Fluttershy, while she rabbited on and on about…well…rabbits, he'd take the time to have a quick nap. It recharged his batteries and saved him from being bored to death. He was awoken by Cheese Sandwich tapping him on the shoulder, wrenching him out of a wonderful dream where he was leading a team into battle.

"So, these six ponies you guys were talking about. I know I'm in it, and you and Spitfire, so who else is in the team?" He asked.

"Um…I don't really remember. I was too distracted when the ponies were talking about it," Discord admitted, lowering his voice so Rainbow Dash wouldn't bug him. "You'll find out soon enough."

"So, does Surprise like to throw parties, too?" Pinkie Pie asked Spitfire, who took a deep breath before answering.

"Well, she had planned parties a couple of times, like when we qualified for the Equestria Games and she threw me and Fleetfoot a 'We forgive you' party," Spitfire listed, her eyes clouding a little. What had she done wrong? Whatever it was seemed to haunt her. Rainbow Dash overheard and flew over to fly beside Spitfire.

"I forgive you, too," She smiled, patting the Wonderbolt on the shoulder. Spitfire smiled weakly at her friend. Discord felt a pang of sorrow for his new companion. She obviously still felt bad about whatever had happened. He decided he'd ask Rainbow Dash about it later.

"Hey, there's Ponyville!" Cheese Sandwich pointed with a hoof into the distance. Sure enough, Ponyville had come into view. It then occurred to Discord how many times he had flown away and back to Ponyville. He was surprised Rainbow Dash's wings weren't tired yet, then again she was the best flier he knew, even though he'd never say it to her face. As they came in for landing, Rarity hurried out to greet them.

"It's good to see you again, Cheese Sandwich," She said to the orange earth pony as he climbed off Discord's back.

"It's good to be back, Rarity," Cheese responded, tipping his grey and black hat to her. Pinkie Pie clambered off Spitfire, who breathed a sigh of relief and bounded over to Cheese Sandwich.

"Come on in, Cheese, you have to meet Rainbook," Pinkie Pie dragged her friend into Carousel Boutique. Rarity turned to Rainbow Dash.

"I have some good news, I did a little research-" she was cut off by Dash.

"Research? You sound just like Twilight," She chuckled. Rarity rolled her eyes and continued.

"I did a little research and found where Coco Pommel works now. I called my friend in Manehattan who hired her and he told me that she'd got fired. So, I found out that she's working at the Central Lark coffee house," The white unicorn explained.

"Awesome, but how long does it take to get to Manehattan by train?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I don't really remember because I napped for most of the ride," She admitted, sheepishly. Rarity tutted at her rainbow-maned friend before replying.

"About three days," She told her, frowning. "Princess Celestia probably wants us to find the rest of the ponies as soon as possible, so taking the train would be a waste of valuable time," Rarity paused and put a hoof to her chin, deep in thought. She looked at Rainbow Dash when she had finished thinking. "Maybe Discord could teleport a couple of you there. Of course, I'm coming, too," Rarity said to her friends. Rainbow Dash raised a hoof.

"I think I'll stay here this time," She decided, whispering the last part to Rarity so that Spitfire wouldn't hear what she said. "Truthfully, my wing hurt a little from all that flying."

"Alright then, Rainbow Dash, then the ponies going are Discord, me, Spitfire and Cheese Sandwich…you are going, right Spitfire?" Rarity asked the Wonderbolt. Discord could pretty much read her mind right now and resisted the urge to actually open up her head to read her thoughts. She probably didn't want to go to Manehattan with the unicorn that had almost killed her, a crazy party pony and an even crazier master of chaos.

"Why not? I'd like to meet this Coco Pommel," Spitfire decided with a shrug. Discord was shocked at the pegasus once again. She was surrounded by ponies she barely got along with, but she was sticking by their side anyway.

Now that was loyalty.

"Alright, then, I'll fetch Cheese Sandwich and we shall leave," Rarity said, turning to go back inside. Suddenly, there was a crash and an ear-piercing meow and Rarity gasped. "OPAL!"

The door swung open roughly. "SAVE ME!" Cheese Sandwich caterwauled, charging out of the boutique, Rarity's cat, Opalescence, clinging to his rump, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rainbook raced after him.

"Opal, bad girl, let go of him!" Fluttershy ordered the cat, in as threatening a tone as she could get. For once the cat ignored Fluttershy and refused to extract her claws from Cheese's rear end. Rainbook skidded to a halt and activated her magic, her horn glowing with a purple aura. The next thing they knew, Opal was surrounded by the same aura and was lifted into the air. Rainbook floated her over to Fluttershy and dropped the cat at the yellow mare's hooves. Fluttershy gave her a couple of gentle strokes while Opal purred louder than a motorcycle.

"Opal, you should know better than to dig your claws into a pony's behind," Rarity scolded her cat. "It'll ruin your manicure!"

"Yeah, that's what's wrong with her attacking me," Cheese Sandwich grunted. Discord stretched his head over to Cheese Sandwich.

"I guess you could say that was a total catastrophe," Discord joked. Cheese Sandwich laughed too, despite the throbbing pain in his rump.

"Seriously, that's the best you came up with?" Spitfire asked.

"Well, clearly you don't have a sense of humour!" Discord accused the pegasus, who smirked a little.

"No sense of humour, eh?" She asked, not wanting an answer. She trotted over to Pinkie Pie. "Hey Pinkie Pie, wanna play the care game?" Spitfire asked. Pinkie beamed with excitement.

"Yeah, I love dare games, can I go first, please, please, please?" She rambled.

"Of course," Spitfire replied. "I dare you to stand in front of that door," the Wonderbolt pointed a hoof at the house nearest to the boutique. Pinkie Pie hopped over to stand in front of the door.

"I did it! What do I win?" She asked, grinning like a fool. Spitfire shook her head.

"I'm not finished yet. I dare you to stand on two hooves," She commanded.

"Which two hooves?" Pinkie Pie asked, examining each of her hooves for no apparent reason.

"Any two," Spitfire replied. Discord watched with interest as Pinkie stood on her two left hooves. What was Spitfire up to? "Now, you just have to stay like that for a whole minute; no talking allowed," Spitfire instructed.

"Okay," Pinkie replied. "Oops, I spoke, do I lose, can I start over, shoot, I'm talking again, should I-"

"Starting now!" Spitfire said. Pinkie used her free front hoof to zip her lip, then the tossed the invisible key over her shoulder. Spitfire looked back at Discord and Cheese to make sure they were watching. She then knocked on the door Pinkie Pie was standing in front of and zoomed off, back towards them. Pinkie opened her mouth to ask what was going on but then remembered the rules of the dare.

"I'm not seeing what's funny about this," Discord said to Spitfire, making his eyes grow larger to demonstrate. Spitfire took an awkward step away from Discord.

"Just watch," She told the two stallions. The door opened to reveal a grump looking stallion.

"What do you want?" He thundered. He didn't look happy to be disturbed. Pinkie Pie started to sweat. She could run away or explain what was happening because of the instructions of the dare and the stallion was getting madder by the second. "Well…" Pinkie Pie looked over at her friends for help but all of them, Discord, Spitfire, Cheese, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbook, were too busy laughing at Spitfire's prank to help her out. Even Opal was purring in a way that sounded like a laugh. Pinkie Pie stood there for a whole minute, sweat pouring down her face like a stream until the minute was up. She hastily ran away.

"Sorry, wrong door!" She called over her shoulder as the frustrated stallion slammed the door. Pinkie Pie stormed over to Spitfire. "That was mean and dirty!" She scolded the Wonderbolt before smiling at her. "That was the best prank ever! I have to try it sometime. Thanks, Spitfire," Pinkie Pie hugged the yellow pegasus before bounding over to talk to Fluttershy.

"So, what did you think of that? Still think I have no sense of humour?" Spitfire asked Discord, casually examining one of her front hooves. Discord rolled his eyes.

"Okay, that was pretty good, but I could have pulled a better prank in my sleep," Discord insisted, pyjamas and a nightcap suddenly appearing on him.

"Is that a challenge?" Spitfire asked, smiling mischievously.

"What if it is?" Discord shot back, his pyjamas disappearing. Rarity suddenly appeared between the two of them.

"Will you two stop this nonsense," The white unicorn ordered, sounding strangely fierce. "We should have left ages ago," She complained.

"We just got back three minutes ago," Discord pointed out, checking a watch that had magically appeared on his wrist. Rarity glowered at the draconequus.

"Just teleport us there, already," Rarity ordered. Discord hadn't realised he'd have to use his magic to take them to Manehattan. At least he could actually do something useful now and not just fly shotgun for Rainbow Dash.

"Would it kill you to say please?" Discord asked smugly, earning yet another glare from Rarity. Spitfire, Cheese Sandwich and Rarity all stood at Discord's side. Discord had just noticed, but at some point Cheese Sandwich had changed out of his black, grey and white outfit and was now wearing a yellow shirt. Discord snapped his eagle claw and in a flash they were gone, the other ponies being swallowed by a blinding light.

…...

As quick as a flash they had arrived. Discord had teleported them to a Manehattan alley. Rarity quickly checked her mane to make sure it hadn't been messed up during the teleportation before peering out from the alleyway.

"Alright, I have some idea of where we are, so I think we should go…" Rarity bit her lip, trying to remember. "That way," She pointed right and disappeared around the corner. Discord, Cheese Sandwich and Spitfire followed close behind.

"I used to live in Manehattan," Cheese told them. "It's pretty boring around here."

"Are you out of your mind?" Rarity gasped. "Manehattan is the greatest city in Equestria, besides Canterlot, of course."

"Well, sure it's pretty fancy, but, there's a whole bunch of muggers and fights and- CHEESE SHOP!" Cheese Sandwich stopped halfway through his explanation to press his nose up against the window of a store that sold nothing but cheese. Discord had wondered how Cheese Sandwich got his name, and now he had his explanation.

"Seriously," Spitfire rolled her eyes, noticing that some of the passers-by were staring and pointing at her. A couple of them came over asking for autographs, which she couldn't say no to. Rarity pouted a little.

"I should be the one mobbed by strangers wherever I go," She whined. Discord was tempted to join Cheese at the window. He'd rather go googly-eyed over dairy products than listen to Rarity whinge.

"See anything you like?" Discord asked Cheese Sandwich, joining him.

"Everything!" Cheese drooled. "I've gotta get a closer look, wanna come in?" He offered. Discord shrugged and went in, leaving Rarity to wallow as she enviously watched Spitfire give out autographs to random ponies.

He immediately wished he'd stayed outside once he'd caught a whiff of the cheese shop. It smelt like mouldy cheese…probably because it was full of exactly that. Half of the cheeses in there were covered in mould, but his earth pony companion was still dribbling like a maniac over them. Discord snapped his fingers and a nose peg appeared on his nose, blocking out the smell. He tried to persuade Cheese to leave, even though he must have sounded ridiculous.

"Cheese, can we pweave leave dow? It shmells like a pig farm in heer," Discord pleaded.

"That's nice, Discord," Cheese said absentmindedly, his eyed fixed to a huge block of Roquefort cheese, which looked disgusting. Discord tried to get his attention in several ways including poking him, crashing cymbols together and blowing on a trumpet. He got kicked out of the cheese shop just before he could pound on a gong. Rarity was nowhere to be seen, probably tired of watching Spitfire get mobbed by fans. The next few minutes were uneventful, at least for Discord. While Rarity was missing, Spitfire was signing things and Cheese Sandwich was gawking at stinky food, he leaned against a wall, bored as ever. The passers-by often gave him strange looks, sometimes running or shying away. Discord was actually relieved to see Rarity when she reappeared fifteen minutes after she'd disappeared.

"I have some good news," She announced. Thank goodness, hopefully this meant they could get moving. "I've found the Central Lark coffee house."

"Perfect, I'm thirsty," Discord smacked his lips at the thought of a cup of coffee. He hoped they had blue mountain coffee beans.

"Ahem, we're here to find Coco Pommel," Rarity reminded him. Rarity glanced around. "Where's Cheese Sandwich?"

"Trust me, we're not gonna get him out of that shop," Discord told Rarity. Spitfire finally finished giving out the last autograph to a squealing filly and trotted over to Discord and Rarity.

"Are we all set?" The Wonderbolt asked. Rarity nodded and set off down the street, leaving Cheese to eyeball the cheese. Discord had never seen such a busy place. He'd also never seen so many taxis. Everywhere he looked there were half a dozen cabs going down the street.

"Rarity, can we take a cab?" Discord asked, since it would be much quicker.

"Of course not, it's impossible to get a taxi at this time of day, the line for taxis go so far you'd need a super computer and a team of accountants to figure out how many ponies were in it," Rarity told Discord as if it was the most ridiculous questions she'd ever been asked.

"Well, I could teleport us there," Discord offered. Rarity whipped around to face him, her eyes bulging.

"NO! There's no way I'm risking messing up my mane. Your teleportation is so chaotic that I'd rather risk riding to the coffee house on Derpy," Rarity complained.

"Thank you, Rarity. I do like to keep my magic as chaotic as possible," Discord beamed. Rarity groaned and rolled her eyes. Why did nopony appreciate his magic? Soon, more ponies were gathering around Spitfire to get autographs.

"Oh, no," She muttered under her breath. Discord and Rarity both grumbled at the same time.

"Spit, if we're gonna get to the coffee house in the next millennium, you're gonna have to dodge the fans," Discord told the yellow pegasus. Spitfire shot him angry glare.

"Don't call me Spit!" She hissed before taking off into the sky and over a skyscraper.

'Great,' Discord thought huffily as the last traces of the fiery trail left by the Wonderbolt vanished. 'Now, I'm all alone with Rarity. What could be worse?'

"Okay, I guess it's just the two of us, now," Rarity stated the obvious, trotting on. Discord followed silently behind, occasionally pausing to make a moustache appear on an unsuspecting pony's rump. Once they had reached the coffee house, Discord had put facial hair on fifteen pony's rear ends. The coffee house was painted white with a green sign that had a golden lark on it, above the words: Central Lark, in golden writing. As they stepped inside, Discord was greeted by the delicious scent of all different types of coffee. Discord had no idea what this Coco Pommel looked like, so he left it to Rarity to do all the looking. Discord settled himself on a red couch, making the mare on the seat next to him leave.

'Rude," Discord thought. Before he could put a moustache, or better, a beard, on the mare's rump, Rarity returned and by the look on her face she hadn't found Coco Pommel.

"The stallion at the counter said that she has today off, but he did give me her address," Rarity informed Discord, levitation a piece of notebook paper up with her magic.

"How did you get him to give you her address?" Discord asked. Rarity batted her eyelashes.

"A little something called charm," She explained, making Discord roll his eyes. "Coco's place isn't that far, just round the corner."

Great, after we find her can we please stop for some coffee?" Discord asked, batting his eyelashes, which he made appear. Rarity face hoofed.

"No," She said, sternly. "And, FYI, charming ponies is my thing. Never do that again," She added, pulling a disgusted face. They left the coffee, house, Discord immediately missing the smell of mocha as they stepped outside. Rarity was right; the walk to Coco's place wasn't long at all. They arrived at a tall apartment building that Discord had to crane his long neck to see the top of. An elevator ride and a walk down a hallway later, the pair had arrived at Coco's address. Rarity knocked elegantly on the door and waited for it to open. When there was no reply, Rarity knocked again, a little louder.

Still no answer.

Rarity banged louder. Discord assumed that Coco wasn't home but Rarity obviously hadn't yet. The unicorn knocked louder still.

"Rarity, I don't think she's-" Discord was cut off by Rarity pounding on the door like a maniac. "RARITY!" Discord yelled.

"What!?" Rarity replied.

"Don't you think that she would've heard you?" Discord asked. Rarity slumped against the door. "Why are you so desperate to see Coco?" Discord could tell that Rarity was mad because she wanted to see her old friend.

"I want to know why my friend fired her, that's all. Firing Coco Pommel would be a crime against fashion," Rarity explained after taking a deep breath. Well, that explains it. Rarity was very passionate about anything to do with fashion.

"So, what do we do now?" Discord asked, making a question mark appear above his head. Rarity shrugged her shoulders.

"I suppose we should just wait," She sighed. The pair headed back down in the elevator. The ride down seemed a lot longer than the ride up, especially since there was a mare in there that looked a little wary of Discord. Why did everypony have to be afraid of him? He wasn't that scary looking was he?

They stood casually outside the apartment building in silence while the residents of Manehattan bustled around them. There was no sign of Cheese or Spitfire. Discord knew that Cheese would still be at the cheese shop, but he didn't have the faintest idea where Spitfire had flown off to.

"Would this be a good time to get some coffee?" Discord asked as sweetly as he could.

"Discord, for the hundredth time-"

"It hasn't been a hundred times," Discord argued with the white unicorn.

"Whatever. If we go and get some coffee now, we could miss Coco Pommel," She explained to Discord.

"Well, then I could go and get us the coffee and you could stand here waiting," Discord suggested.

"Do you have any money?" Rarity asked. Discord was about to reply when he realised that he didn't have any money.

"Do you?" He asked Rarity, smiling widely. Rarity buried her face in one of her hooves.

"No, I haven't. I didn't think I'd need any. I thought we just had to come here, find Coco and leave. But it's so much harder since she's not around and you're whining every two minutes for a drink!" Rarity yelled.

"Wow, Manehattan really does make ponies cranky," Discord muttered. Rarity wasn't listening to Discord's remark. She was staring across the street. She tapped Discord sharply on the shoulder.

"What?" He hissed. Rarity pointed a hoof across the road.

"See her?" The unicorn asked Discord. Discord followed the line of her hoof to a pretty off-white earth pony mare with a cyan and light opalish grey mane and tail stumbling through the crowd of ponies.

"Watch where you're goin'," A stallion scolded her as she bumped into him. The mare gulped and muttered a quiet apology. This pony reminded him a lot of Fluttershy.

"That's Coco Pommel," Rarity told Discord.

So this was Coco. She seemed pretty timid and shy. She would probably find him a little intimidating so he turned to Rarity.

"You go and talk to her," Discord told her. Rarity rounded on him.

"Why do I have to do all the work? You're meant to be the 'leader' of this so called 'group', so why can't you come with me?" Rarity complained. Discord grumbled something under his breath.

"Well, that's exactly why you should do all the work. While I lead my team to victory, you'll be sitting on your fat rump, doing nothing," Discord shot back. Rarity gasped.

"My behind is not fat, you ruffian, and I will not be doing nothing, I will probably be preparing for our impending doom, because there is no way in a thousand years you are going to lead these ponies into battle and get out of there alive!"

"Hurtful! My team will defeat Eris and then you're going to eat your words!" Discord argued. He could feel his blood boiling. He wanted nothing more than to grab Rarity around the throat and squeeze her until her head popped off.

"If you defeat Eris I will…fill one of my dresses with custard and do a hundred star jumps!" Rarity promised Discord.

"You've got yourself a deal," Discord agreed. He couldn't wait to see the look on Rarity's face when he defeated Eris, became the hero of Equestria and she had to fill one of her precious dresses with custard. What he wouldn't give for her to do that. Rarity looked back across the street and her eyes grew wider.

"Now look what you've done!" She yelled at Discord. "She's gone!"

"What do you mean; what I've done?" Discord fumed. "How was it my fault that she walked away?"

"It was clearly your fault for making me get into that ridiculous argument," Rarity huffed. Discord breathed heavily. This stuck-up mare was getting on his last nerve. He may be reformed, but that didn't mean he couldn't turn her mane into a birds nest if it came to it. Discord suddenly caught something out of the corner of his eye.

"Besides, she right over there," Discord pointed his lion paw at Coco who was speeding through the crowds. 'Strange.' Discord thought. 'How come she's not going to her apartment?"

"Where's she going?" Rarity spoke his thoughts. Coco looked a little frightened. Discord stretched his neck higher. Three stallions were following her, and they didn't look friendly. There were two earth ponies and a unicorn, who was levitating a club above his head and swinging it threateningly. One of the earth ponies rushed around Coco and blocked her path, the other two preventing her from heading back the way she came. The only way to escape from them was an alley, which she bolted into. It then occurred to Discord what was going on.

"She's being mugged!" He told Rarity, who gasped.

"Well, why are you just standing there, let's help her!" Rarity rushed out into the busy road, narrowly avoiding a few cabs. Discord simply floated over the road and joined Rarity on the other side. He could hear Coco's timid whimpers.

"Please don't hurt me," She choked. Discord could tell that she was on the verge of tears.

"Kid, we ain't gonna hurt ya, as long as ya give us all your money!" The biggest earth pony told her.

"B-b-but I don't have any money," Coco told them, pressing her back against the wall of the alley.

"Likely story, now give us the saddlebags!" The unicorn commanded Coco, who cowered lower against the wall, shaking with fear.

"Leave her alone!" Rarity called down the alley, her voice echoing. Coco looked past the stallions to see who was talking.

"Rarity, is that you?" She asked. Rarity didn't have time to answer, because one of the earth ponies was stalking towards her.

"Hey, boys, we got another one. More money for us," He sneered. Discord raised a paw.

"Guys, she hasn't got any money. Trust me, I asked her five minutes ago," Discord told them. The stallions looked him up and down.

"What are ya? Some kind of giant mutant dragon?" The unicorn asked, chuckling. Discord ignored his comment.

"Leave Coco Pommel alone," Rarity ordered the stallions, crouching into her best martial arts pose. The three stallions erupted into laughter.

"Oooh, I'm so scared!" One of the earth ponies squealed sarcastically.

"You will be," Discord smirked. He snapped his eagle claw and a huge, grey storm cloud appeared over one of the earth ponies heads. A lightning bolt shot from it, shocking the earth pony. He shook from the shock before running away, a little singed.

"Where are ya goin'?" The unicorn yelled after his accomplice. The earth pony didn't stop running and disappeared from sight around the corner. Discord flicked his tail and the other earth pony's legs disappeared, making him topple to the floor and roll away. He called for help, but nopony except Discord could bring his legs back.

"I'm scared!" The earth pony whimpered. Discord brought his legs back with another snap and the earth pony zoomed off, calling for his mommy.

"Coward!" The unicorn roared. While Discord was admiring his work, the unicorn took the opportunity to wallop Discord over the head with his club. Discord collapsed to the floor, seeing double. His head was throbbing so loud he could swear that the others could hear it. He saw Rarity launch herself at the stallion only for him to use his telekinetic magic to toss her away, making her crash into a wall. Discord heaved himself shakily to his feet. He teetered over to Rarity, to make sure she was okay. She allowed Discord to help her up before they moved into another fighting stance. The unicorn cackled softly.

"Get out of here!" Rarity yelled. The stallion rolled his eyes.

"Fine, come at me," He scoffed. "Oh yeah, by the way, you're cuffed together," He added. Discord and Rarity looked down. Sure enough, Discord's goat leg and Rarity's front right hoof were cuffed together. The two tried to advance forward, only for them both to trip and tumble over. Discord could have easily used his magic to get them out of there, but the blow from that club had messed with his head so much that every time he tried to use his magic it hurt. He had never seen a unicorn conjure this spell before. Discord then caught a glimpse of the unicorns cutie mark, a pair of silver hand cuffs. That explained it.

"You two just lie down there and relax while your friend 'ere gives me the money," Coco trembled with fear as the unicorn approached her.

"I told you; I haven't got any money!" Coco insisted, stomping her hoof a little. The unicorn levitated the club in the air, above the timid mare.

"Hand over your stuff, or I might just drop my club," He tipped the club a little. Discord tried to shuffle forward, but it was impossible with Rarity flailing beside him, kicking him a couple of times.

"Hold still!" Discord ordered her. Rarity glowered up at him.

"Do you want to get out of these things or not?" She asked, shaking her hoof around, trying to get the cuff off.

"Well, you're never going to do it like that!" Discord growled.

"Last chance, hand over your stuff, or your head gets bashed in!" The stallion roared, swinging the club more violently. Coco turned pale under her fur, swaying as if she were about to faint. "That's it!" The stallion raised the club over his head, preparing to thrust it upon Coco's skull. The mare screwed up her eyes and curled up in a ball, getting ready for the worst.

"STOP!" A voice rang out above them. Discord only looked up in time to see a fiery blur zoom down from the sky and land between the stallion and Coco Pommel. "Leave her alone you moron! Why don't you pick on someone your own size!?"

Spitfire!

"Like…you?" The stallion scoffed at the flame-maned mare, who just smirked.

"If you insist," She shrugged before jumping into the air and doing a ninja kick at the stallions face, sending him flying down the alley, skidding to a halt near the entrance.

"Whoa!" Coco breathed, standing up again. The stallion got up and yelled down the alley.

"Fine, ya got lucky, punks!" He then ran down the path, just as his cuff spell on Discord and Rarity wore off. Rarity hugged her hoof tightly to her chest.

"Oh, my precious hoofy-woofy. I hope you never have to be cuffed to Discord ever again," She cooed. Discord stared at her.

"You do realise you're talking to your hoof, right?" Discord asked her. Spitfire turned to Coco Pommel.

"You okay?" She asked the mare, whose eyes grew wide.

"Sweet Celestia, you're Spitfire the Wonderbolt!" She gasped. Spitfire puffed out her chest with pride.

"Yes, yes I-" Spitfire was cut off by Coco lunging forward and wrapping her fore hooves around her neck.

"Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for saving me!" She squeed, tightening her grip on the Wonderbolt.

"No problem," Spitfire choked, chuckling a little. Rarity and Discord walked over to them.

"Spitfire, how did you find us?" Rarity asked. Discord admitted that he was curious as to how she found them, too. She had impeccable timing, that's for sure.

"Well, after I got away from those fans, I waited until the coast was clear then came out from hiding on a roof. Then, I found out that you'd gone on without me (thanks a lot, by the way). So, I flew over the city until I saw you guys down here. By the looks of it I came just in time," She explained.

"You've got that right," Discord agreed.

"Did you see Cheese Sandwich?" Rarity questioned the yellow pegasus. Spitfire shook her head.

"Nah, I would've thought he'd have come out of that shop by now," She shrugged.

"Hey, guys!" As if on cue, Cheese Sandwich appeared at the end of the alley. He had a shopping bag slung over one shoulder and he had a giant smile on his face. He bounded down the alley and halted a few feet away from them. "You'll never guess, but that shop had cheese with FRUIT in it!" he explained. He reached into the bag and lifted out a huge block of orange cheese with what looked like raisins inside it. "Is it a meal? Is it a dessert? Do I care? NO!"

"Okay…"Rarity murmured. Discord wondered how useful Cheese Sandwich would be in a fight. Despite the fact that Rarity had a few scrapes, he had a bump the size of a cantalope on his head and Coco had now joined them, he didn't even ask how they were. He'd be useless. He wouldn't know a post-fight scene if one came up to him wearing a nametag and slapped him round the face. He hadn't even seemed to have noticed Coco Pommel, yet.

"Cheese, you couldn't have shown up two minutes ago when we were fighting some thugs?" Discord questioned, tapping his goat hoof on the ground and folding his arms. Cheese looked alarmed.

"Aw, man, I missed a fight. How come you guys get all the fun?" He complained, poking his bottom lip out.

"Seriously, fun? What's wrong with you?" Spitfire asked, grimacing. Rarity grumbled something under her breath before plastering a smile on her face and speaking to Cheese.

"Anyway, Cheese Sandwich, this is Coco Pommel," Rarity gestured to the earth pony mare who hadn't said a word since her embrace with Spitfire. Cheese turned to look at her.

"Well, it's nice to meet- WOW!" Cheese stopped mid-sentence as his eyes bulged out of his head. He just stood there, staring at poor Coco for what seemed like forever. Cheese dashed over to her and began vigorously shaking her hoof. "It's great to meet you, Coco Pommel. Has anypony ever called you gorgeous?" He asked.

"Um…" Coco didn't get time to answer as Cheese Sandwich just kept talking and shaking her hoof.

"Hey, can I call you Coconut?" Cheese questioned.

"Well…" Cheese finally released Coco from the hoof shake.

"Great! I'm Cheese Sandwich, best party planner in Equestria, besides Pinkie Pie!" He announced.

Discord face palmed. First Cheese was going crazy for the cheese in the shop and now he was going loco for Coco. Coco turned to Rarity.

"So what brings you to Manehattan?" She asked. How would Coco react to all of this?

"Well, this is going to sound ridiculous, but every word I say is the truth, I swear," Rarity answered.

"Okay, no need to swear," Discord told the unicorn, who rolled her eyes.

"You are part of a team of ponies who need to stop a villain named Eris," Rarity began. "She'll wreak havoc upon Equestria if you don't come with us to Ponyville right now."

Wow, Rarity, way to keep Coco calm about all this. Coco stood there with a blank expression on her face for a second.

"Rarity, I think you hit your head harder than I thought," Coco looked concerned. Spitfire stepped forward to defend Rarity.

"No, this is all real. I know it's real," Spitfire placed a hoof over her heart. "That's the word of a Wonderbolt."

Coco looked at her hooves. She looked like she had no idea what to think.

"Really, this is the truth?" She asked, looking up.

"Yes," All four of the others said simultaneously.

"Jinx!" Discord called out, making the others stare at him. Discord whistled nonchalantly, not wanting to look like an idiot in front of the newest member of his team, not that he was doing a good job of it.

"So, what can I do?" Coco shuffled her hooves. She looked uncomfortable about all of this.

"Well, I suppose there will be a fight involved," Rarity told her truthfully. Coco started shaking again.

"Fighting? I can't help you there, fighting isn't my thing," She told them. "I couldn't possibly help you defeat a villain. I'm useless."

Rarity began blinking fast, probably blinking back tears of pity for her friend. He stood beside Coco and placed a comforting hoof over her shoulder. "Coco, you are anything but useless. You're one of the best designers I know," Rarity assured her, brushing a lock of Coco's cyan mane out of her eyes and tucking it behind her ear.

"But, I AM useless. My boss fired me because I was useless," Coco leaned against Rarity, looking relieved that there was someone there who she could pour her emotions out to.

"I heard," Rarity said grimly. "What happened?"

Coco sniffed before replying, staring at the ground. "I was having trouble designing one of the costumes…and I was running out of time. So I asked myself what you would do if you were in my situation. So, I changed the costume a little. I tried to make it better, I swear to Celestia I tried so hard…but my boss hated the new design…and since there was no time to make another costume…that night's show was cancelled and he fired me!" Coco explained, allowing a tear to roll down her cheek.

"Well, that's ridiculous. I'm sure your design was fabulous, especially if it was inspired by yours truly," She replied angrily. For a minute all was silent except for the occasional sob from Coco Pommel. Rarity twisted Coco around to look her in the eye. "But think of it this way, think of how your boss will feel when you defeat Eris. He'll be proud to have had you as an employee. He might even ask for you back," Rarity told Coco. Discord had to admit, Rarity was annoying, but very persuasive.

"You really think so?" Coco sniffled.

"I know so," Rarity answered, hugging Coco tightly. Discord gagged. All of this sugary sweet stuff was gonna make him barf.

"So, are you gonna come with us or not?" Discord asked impatiently, summoning another wristwatch. Coco didn't reply right away, most likely debating the risks she would take and what she would achieve. Discord secretly agreed with Coco that she wouldn't be much use. She was shy, weak and timid, so wouldn't be any good in the fighting category. But Discord thought of Fluttershy, how she seemed like Coco. He knew that Fluttershy could be ferocious, even terrifying if she wanted to, maybe Coco was like that, too.

"Well…okay. I'll go with you guys. But if it gets too much for me, I'm out," She decided, a determined look gracing her face. Rarity hugged her once again.

"You have no idea how happy that makes us!" She smiled, glaring at the others in a way to say: 'Look happier, for Celestia's sake'.

Discord plastered a smile on his face (literally). Cheese Sandwich had a permanent smile, so he didn't have to do anything and Spitfire managed to crack a small one. Discord did grin a little at the pegasus brightening up. She looked good when she smiled.

"Well, I suppose we should be getting back to Ponyville," Rarity told the rest of them.

"Um…how long will I have to be away?" Coco asked curiously.

"I'm not exactly sure…but don't worry, I'm sure you'll be back in Manehattan in no time," Rarity assured her. The white unicorn turned to Discord. "You can teleport us back now," She said, a little worriedly. Coco looked up at Discord.

"Is teleporting…safe?" She asked. Cheese Sandwich leapt to her side, making her jump a little.

"There's nothing to worry about. It's actually kinda fun," he reassured her. "That's how we got here and we're okay. Just stick close to me, if it will make you feel safer," He offered. Coco shuffled her hooves again.

"I'll be fine," She mumbled. Cheese shrugged it off and stood beside Discord, ready to teleport. Rarity and Spitfire trotted over to the draconequus and waited for Coco to follow. The off-white earth pony hesitantly walked over to stand beside Spitfire, shaking a little. Discord teleported before Coco could change her mind. Her surprised shriek echoed in the now empty alley as the four ponies and Discord disappeared in a flash of light.


	3. Reuniting a Rainbow, part 3

Coco was shaking like a leaf when they appeared in front of Carousel Boutique. Spitfire placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder, although it didn't help much.

"Coco, it's okay, we're in Ponyville," Rarity comforted her. Applejack appeared at the door.

"Hey, everypony, they're back!" She called into the boutique. Rainbow Dash and the others rushed out to greet them, all chattering at once.

"One at a time," Rarity told the others as they bustled around her.

"What took you so long?" Rainbow Dash asked sternly.

"You should have been there. We had to fight some muggers," Cheese Sandwich replied, throwing a few punches to demonstrate. Discord turned to face him.

"We? You weren't even there!" He reminded the earth pony stallion, who grinned sheepishly.

"Oh yeah, my bad. On the bright side I bought some cheese," Cheese raised up his bag and Pinkie Pie gasped.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" She asked.

"CHEESE COOKIES!" They both squealed at the same time and raced into the boutique. Man, those two were crazy.

"Okay, that aside we've got Coco Pommel," Rarity gestured to Coco, who looked away shyly, despite having met them all before. Fluttershy stepped forward.

"Hey there Coco Pommel," She greeted. The earth pony smiled at her friend.

"Hi, Fluttershy, long time no see," Coco replied. Discord found it quite sweet to see the two interacting since they were so alike then scolded himself mentally for thinking such an un-chaos like thing.

"So, are you excited about this?" Fluttershy questioned. Coco stared at the ground for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day.

"Well…I'm not sure. I don't know whether to feel excited or afraid," She replied. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie appeared in front of her.

"You're nervicited!" She exclaimed. Coco fell backwards onto her rump with fright.

"Pardon?" Coco asked Pinkie, standing up and dusting herself off. Pinkie took a deep breath before the rant commenced.

"It's like you wanna jump up and down and yell "YAY ME!" But you also wanna curl up in a teeny-tiny ball and hide at the same time! We've all been there!" Pinkie explained. Coco looked around awkwardly. Discord didn't think Pinkie Pie's crazy level could get any higher, but apparently he was wrong. That just made Coco even more nervous.

"Hey, everypony!" Cheese Sandwich called out from the boutique. "Who wants a cheese cookie?" He called out, raising a tray of freshly baked cheese cookies for them all to see.

"How the hay did ya make those so fast?" Applejack questioned him, raising an eyebrow. "You just left to make 'em two minutes ago."

"Chefs secret," Cheese Sandwich whispered loudly, taking a large bite out of one of the cookies. "OW HOT!" He yelled, poking his now burned tongue out. Discord decided that he didn't want to try one of Cheese Sandwich's cookies, purely because he didn't think that they looked or sounded good at all.

"…go back to Manehattan," He heard Coco say, realising that he'd missed part of their conversation. Rarity looked Coco sternly in the eye.

"Now, Coco, darling, you can't leave. We need you; Equestria needs you," She encouraged the earth pony mare. Coco glanced around.

"What exactly can this villain do?" She asked. Just as Rarity was about to answer, a bunny with a beavers head tap-danced past. For a second there was an awkward silence until Pinkie Pie broke it with a cry of: "Aw, how adorable!"

Fluttershy seemed to think otherwise, since she looked a little disturbed. Rainbow Dash folded her hooves and sat on her rump.

"Well, that answers your question," She told Coco. The cyan pegasus looked fed up with all of this. Coco tilted her head in confusion.

"That doesn't seem too bad," She said. "Isn't there some kind of spell that can turn the animals back to normal?"

"It's more than just animals," Fluttershy answered, shaking at the thought of her animal friends being affected by the chaos magic. Discord thought that she would be used to it by now since he had lost count of how many times he had turned Angel into a pair of slippers.

"Yeah, mah apples grew legs!" Applejack told Coco, grinding her hooves into the dirt in frustration.

"And the cloud I was sleeping on earlier started opera! That doesn't even make any sense!" Rainbow Dash reported. Discord chuckled.

"Oh, Dashie, what fun is there in making sense?" He asked rhetorically, making the cyan pegasus roll her eyes.

"All of my dresses were shredded!" Rarity wailed, somehow managing to look pathetic and furious at the same time.

"And I made a whole bunch of strawberry cupcakes earlier and put light blue sprinkles on them. But when I took them out of the oven, they were dark blue! DARK!" Pinkie Pie told them, her nostrils flaring.

"Uh…Pinkie Pie. Ever thought that you might have put the wrong sprinkles on yourself?" Rainbow Dash suggested. Pinkie put a hoof to her chin, thinking then grinned sheepishly.

"Oh…that makes much more sense," She blushed. "Well, they were scrumptious anyways!"

"Okay then," Coco said, fiddling with her hooves. "But can this villain do anything you know…life threatening?"

"You bet she can," Rainbow Dash replied. "She's a draconequus like Discord, and he almost turned Ponyville into the chaos capital of the world!"

Coco stared up at Discord, fear flashing in her eyes. Thankfully, Fluttershy came to his aid.

"There's no need to be afraid of Discord now, Coco. He's reformed now," The pink maned pegasus nuzzled Discord's lion paw affectionately.

"But, ya should listen to Rainbow right now," Applejack told Coco. "Eris taught Discord everythin' he knew, so by process of elimination she should be even more dangerous than Discord."

Discord put his mismatched hands on his hips and glowered at the orange earth pony. "Applejack, I thought you knew me better than that. I'd call you a terrible Element of Honesty, but I can't because you didn't lie," He admitted. Discord knew perfectly well that Eris was more powerful than him. He never managed to do quite a few of Eris's most powerful spells. Rainbook stood beside Coco, Spike sitting on her back.

"If you really want to see what Eris can do, you should see Twilight's castle," The teenage unicorn suggested. Rainbow Dash muttered something under her breath, maybe wondering whether they should go back to the castle.

Discord was about to tell Rainbow Dash that the first sign of craziness was talking to yourself, when she spoke.

"I think that the newbies should see the castle," The rainbow maned pegasus decided. Rainbook looked proud of herself for making the suggestion.

"Lead the way then, Dash," Spitfire commanded.

…

Man, Twilight's a slob," Cheese Sandwich commented upon entering the library section of Twilights castle, most of the bookshelves still tipped over and books strewn everywhere.

"I don't think Twilight's ever so much as put a book on the wrong shelf without freaking out," Spike told the earth pony. "If Twilight saw this, she'd have a heart attack!"

Coco stood in the doorway little shocked at all of the damage done. Discord noticed for the first time that several of the castles windows were smashed and there was even a dent in the ceiling.

"This is just the library, though. Eris could make the whole of Equestria look like this library," Rarity explained to Coco.

"I'm not sure that anypony would like to live in a world that looks like a library," Pinkie Pie said.

"That's not what I meant," Rarity tutted. Rainbow Dash flapped over to the white unicorn.

"Don't even bother explaining," She advised.

Coco finally stepped into the library, her eyes shifting around as if she expected Eris to jump out at them at any moment.

"So, this team of ponies who need to save Equestria? Who else is part of it?" Coco asked, sticking close to Rarity's side.

"It's you, Discord, Spitfire, Cheese Sandwich and two others," Rarity replied. Coco gasped and shot over to Spitfire's side.

"I'm gonna be in a team with Spitfire the Wonderbolt!" She cheered. Spitfire glanced away awkwardly. Discord felt a little hurt that she wasn't pleased she was going to be in a team with him, though. Coco hugged Spitfire tightly once again. "We're gonna be BFF's!" she squeed.

"Get O-F-F!" Spitfire ordered Coco through clenched teeth. Coco released her grip on Spitfire but didn't leave the Wonderbolt's personal space.

"And who are the other two ponies in the team?" Discord questioned, balancing one of the books on his head just for the fun of it.

"Well, there's Silver Shill, but ah ain't got a clue where he is," Applejack answered, tripping over a pile of books.

"And there's Seabreeze," Fluttershy added. "But finding him might be a problem."

"What do you mean?" Discord had never met these two ponies so had no idea of the difficulty of finding Seabreeze.

"Seabreeze is a breezie. He lives in another dimension and the only way to get to the breezie dimension is when they come to Equestria to collect nectar and that won't happen again for a really long time," Fluttershy explained.

"GAH!"

CRASH!

Everyone looked over to a large pile of books. That certainly hadn't been there ten seconds ago. Wait! Was it moving? Rainbook emerged from the top of the pile, looking a little battered. She removed a book from the top of her head, annoyed to find out that her horn had made a hole in it.

"Rainbook, what happened?" Fluttershy rushed to the blue unicorn's side.

"It was nothing," Rainbook tossed the book aside. "I was just trying to reshelve the books and they kinda fell on me," She explained, blushing with embarrassment.

"Don't you think that there are more important things to do than reshelving?" Rainbow Dash glared sternly at Twilight's student. Rainbook hung her head.

"She's been hanging around Twilight way too much," Spike said. Pinkie Pie sprung over to the shelf that Rainbook was putting the books on.

"At least this one didn't fall off the shelf," She chirped optimistically, tapping a lone brown book with a hoof. Suddenly, the book disappeared into the wall the bookshelf was leaning against. "Huh?" Pinkie Pie stepped back. Suddenly, the bookshelf began to move to the side slowly. Discord walked forward to get a better look at what was happening. Once the bookshelf had halted, the group all stared at the plain brick wall. Out of the wall fell two crystal levers. As they fell dust exploded from them, making Pinkie Pie sneeze.

"Gesundheit," Cheese Sandwich patted Pinkie on the shoulder.

"Did Twilight know 'bout this?" Applejack asked Spike, who was clinging to her leg in fear.

"I don't think so," Spike replied, shrugging. Discord moved to the front of the group beside Rainbook, who was staring at the wall with fascination.

"We should pull a lever," She decided, her eyes glowing with determination.

"Are you sure 'bout that, sugarcube?" Applejack asked. Rainbook turned to the blonde earth pony.

"Sure as Celestia I am," She beamed. "There could be something behind that wall. Maybe a secret room or a hidden spell book-"

"Or a hidden taco restaurant," Pinkie Pie suggested, causing all of the other ponies to stare at her in confusion. "What? I like tacos," She defended herself. Discord rolled her eyes. As amusing as the pink earth pony was, she was beginning to irritate him, too. Rainbook stood as tall as she could, which wasn't very tall at all.

"Anypony who wants me to pull the lever, raise your hoof," Rainbook said, raising a blue hoof into the air; nopony else except Discord raised their hoof/ paw. Rainbook smiled up at Discord. "Okay then," She nodded her head in thanks. Discord was curious to know what would happen if someone pulled a lever. He and Rainbook stood before the wall, while the others stood back, some of them ducking for cover behind fallen bookshelves. Discord scoffed at their behaviour. What could possibly go wrong?

"Ready?" Discord asked Rainbook, who grinned.

"Pull the lever, Discord!" She ordered, raising a hoof. Discord pulled the lever on the left, which took most of his strength. Suddenly-

CLANG!

An anvil fell from above and crashed onto Rainbook's head, making the unicorn teeter around, an expression of pain plastered onto her face.

"Oh my gosh, are you alright?" Fluttershy gasped, putting a hoof to her mouth in fright. Rainbook screwed her eyes shut and a purple aura surrounded her horn. The aura glimmered for a few seconds before it vanished.

"What was that for?" Discord asked out of curiosity.

"That was a spell for concussion," Rainbook replied. Despite the blow to her head, the unicorn stepped in front of the wall again. "Try the other lever," she suggested, looking a little nervous. Discord pulled down hard on the other lever, bracing himself for something to fall. Instead, he found himself spinning. The entire wall was spinning! It spun swiftly until he and Rainbook were on the other side of the wall. It was dark in there…really dark.

"Rainbook, are you still there?" Discord asked, making a lantern appear in his eagle claw. Rainbook was still there, fumbling with her magic. After a few grunts of effort, she managed to get her horn to glow bright enough to use as a torch.

"W-where are we?" She stammered nervously. Discord could see something in front of him. He stumbled forward until he could see the 'whatever it was'. It was a rollercoaster cart, and in front of that was a track.

YAY!

Discord jumped into the cart. "Come on Rainbook, hop in!" He said enthusiastically, bouncing up and down in the cushiony seat with excitement. Rainbook scoffed.

"And ponies say I'm childish," She chuckled softly, examining the rollercoaster cart.

"You are a child," Discord pointed out, folding his mismatched arms behind his head and putting his legs up on the front of the cart. Rainbook looked highly offended by this.

"I'm fourteen," She scowled, brushing a lock of her purple mane out of her eyes.

"Like I said: a child," Discord said smugly. Rainbook muttered something unreadable and clambered into the cart. Discord tucked his legs back into the cart and eagerly stared into the darkness. As Rainbook settled in, a metal bar creaked down until it had shut the two of them safely in the cart. Light flickered on at last and a voice boomed.

'Please remain seated and keep your hooves inside the cart at all times,'

The cart jolted forward and began zooming down the track. Discord raised his arms in the air and whooped with joy like a kid, while Rainbook just stared ahead, looking a little terrified. They went through a dark tunnel and Rainbook squealed. When they emerged from the tunnel, Rainbook had her arms wrapped around Discords waist and she looked a little mortified. The cart screeched to a halt and Rainbook got the heck out of it as soon as the bar lifted. Discord floated out and showed Rainbook a strip of photos. One of them simply had the two at the beginning of the ride, the second had Discord whooping and Rainbook rolling her eyes and the third had Discord yelling for joy while Rainbook squealed.

"Where did you even get those?" Rainbook asked, obviously not liking the pictures. Discord thought for a moment.

"Not sure…" He replied. Rainbook groaned and headed further into the room. Discord put the pictures in his wallet, that he simply made appear out of thin air. In the centre of the room was a podium with a giant dusty book on it. Rainbook wasted no time in opening it, choking on the dust that came from it.

"Remind me if we ever come down her again to bring some cleaning supplies," Rainbook said to Discord.

"Noted," Discord jotted it down in a notebook that he summoned. Rainbook read the first page with fascination.

"There's a ton of awesome spells in here," She breathed. "A time turning spell, a height spell (I'll have to use that sometime), a dimension travelling spell, an invisibility spell, a…" Rainbook trailed off and re-read the last part. She gasped and prodded the page a couple of times with her hoof. Discord stretched his neck over to the young unicorn. He had noticed that she'd said 'dimension travelling spell' but had wanted to see how long it would be before she'd realised it, too. He pulled out a party horn and blew into it, a couple of party hats appearing on his and Rainbook's heads.

"Congratulations, you noticed," He clapped, Rainbook put her face in her hoof and muttered something that sounded distinctly like 'why me?'

"If I can cast that spell we can go into the other dimension and get that breezie friends of Fluttershy's," Rainbook planned, anticipation gleaming in her purple eyes.

"Why don't we ask Rarity to cast the spell?" Discord asked. Rainbook locked her gaze with his and for some time they just stared at eachother not saying anything. It was like something had snatched their words away. The silence finally broke when they both burst out laughing like maniacs.

"Good one," Rainbook spluttered, wiping a tear from her eye," She took a breath and stood straight and serious.

"The spell looks pretty hard though, Twilight probably hasn't even cast this one," Rainbook fretted. Twilight was the most gifted unicorn in Equestria when it came to magic. Though, Princess Celestia must have chosen Rainbook to be Twilight's student in magic because she was fairly good, so what could go wrong? Discord could actually think of many things that could go wrong and most of his theories ended with him being fried like a wanton.

"Well, if you want to save Twilight, you need to cast that spell," Discord encouraged her.

"I'm not sure…"

"YOU CAN!" Discord boomed. Discord used his magic to make several duplicates of himself dressed as cheerleaders.

"Go Rainbook! Go Rainbook. Whatever rhymes with Rainbook!" The Discord's cheered. Rainbook rolled her eyes.

"Wow, best cheer ever," She said sarcastically. Discord put his lion paw around Rainbook's shoulder.

"Just keep telling yourself. You must cast this spell, or Equestria is doomed," He told her. That just made Rainbook feel even worse.

"Thank you Discord, that is so helpful," She growled through gritted teeth.

"No problem," Discord replied, not getting that Rainbook didn't mean it. Rainbook looked away hesitantly.

"What if it doesn't work, though…will everypony hate me?" Rainbook sniffled. Discord felt an ache in his heart for the young unicorn.

"It will…and we won't hate you. We know you tried your best," Discord told Rainbook. He truly wanted to encourage the filly. Rainbook giggled.

"Stop that. You sound like one of those movies I like to make fun of," She said. Discord laughed with her. He had never noticed that he and Rainbook could actually get along pretty well. "I'll try, though," She promised, standing up tall. She took a couple of breaths and closed her eyes, that familiar purple aura surrounding her horn. She grunted with the strain as her horn glowed brighter. Discord didn't think she could do it, but kept his mouth shut. Sweat began trickling down Rainbook's face. The aura then died and Rainbook stood there, panting.

"See…I told you I couldn't do it," She sighed. If Rainbook couldn't do that spell Equestria really was doomed. Discord put his mismatched hand on Rainbook's shoulders and stared deeply into her eyes.

"You. Can. Do. This!" He pronounced each word slowly. "You are Princess Twilight Sparkle's student. How many unicorns have that honour? Do this for Twilight!" The draconequus gave Rainbook a pep-talk. Rainbook sighed and wiped the sweat from her brow.

"Okay," She muttered. "For Twilight," There was the purple aura again, glimmering in the faint light of the room. The glow got brighter and brighter until even Rainbook herself was surprised at how bright it was. Suddenly a beam shot from her horn and a hole opened up in the middle of the room. Through the hole, Discord could see the most beautiful place ever, with flowers of every colour of the rainbow.

Bleuch!

He could see small pony like creatures floating around. They had to be the breezies.

"Discord!" Rainbook grunted her magic still active. "Go through the portal now. I'm not sure...how much longer…I can keep it open," She puffed. Discord wasted no time in jumping through the portal. As he went through he felt himself shrinking. He examined himself. He looked like himself…but wasn't himself. He had antennae's between his horns and his wings were much larger and silkier and he had really stumpy legs. A few of the passing breezies hid as he fluttered past.

He was going really slow, so slow that even Fluttershy would probably tease him for it if she could see him. No, Fluttershy wouldn't stoop that low.

He figured that the large mushroom house at the end of the breezies home would be the house of their leader. He knocked on the door, which looked like it was made of tree bark. Discord noticed that the mailbox beside the house was a simple wooden twig, but it seemed so huge to him now.

The door to the mushroom house opened and before Discord stood a cream coloured breezie with a long purple mane. She looked a little freaked out at the sight of Discord, not surprisingly. She began talking in a strange language with a fake smile plastered across her face. Discord had no idea what she was talking about and began to twitch when she stopped talking and looked at him, expecting him to say something.

"Um…is the chief here?" Discord decided on. He had no idea whether this breezie would understand him or not. The breezie nodded and called into the house in that strange language. Thank goodness she understood. A moment later, a blue male breezie with a bushy pink mane and dark grey coat appeared, cradling a light blue baby breezie with a purple mane in his arms. He spoke to his wife in that same language. Discord could tell that they were talking about him by the way they kept shooting glances at him. Just before Discord decided to leave, the male breezie floated over and started jabbering in that language again, looking Discord up and down, looking a little uncomfortable at the sight of the strange breezie.

"Look, I'm sorry. I know you understand me, so can we please talk in this language, please?" He asked. The breezie cocked his head.

"Strange, I thought I was the only one breezie who spoke that language," He spoke in a squeaky accented voice. "Who are you?" He trailed off. "What are you?

"I'm Discord, Master of Chaos," Discord bowed. "I'm so sorry for bothering you, but I need your help finding a breezie who lives around here."

"Go on," The breezie said. Discord was glad that everything was going as planned. If thinks kept going this quickly he and this Seabreeze would be in Ponyville again before they even knew it.

"I'm looking for a breezie named Seabreeze," Discord reported. This really was going to be a breeze (no pun intended).

The breezie standing before him puffed out his chest. "Well, you won't have to go very far to find him," He beamed. Discord gave a toothy grin.

"That's great. Does he live in the next house or something?" Discord asked, thrilled that he was so close to meeting the fifth member of his team. The breezie used his free hoof to face hoof.

"No, it's me!" He groaned, sounding a little irritated. Discord couldn't believe that he hadn't understood the breezies earlier hint. He must have been really excited.

"Oh! Well, it's nice to finally meet you," Discord held out his eagle claw, which was now extremely stubby. Seabreeze shook it hesitantly, jolting his son a little. The baby gave a cute little squeak before snuggling into his father's chest. Discord almost let out an 'aww'. The baby breezie reminded him of Rainbook because of its fur and mane colours. Suddenly he remembered: Rainbook was still holding open the portal. She may not be able to keep it open for much longer.

"I'm so sorry, but we need to leave now!" Discord panicked. Seabreeze took a step back.

"What do you mean?" The breezie asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. Discord had no time to explain since he could see the hole back to Equestria getting a little smaller with every moment that passed.

"You, team, villain, doomed, leave, NOW!" Discord spoke as quickly as he could. Seabreeze handed his son over to his wife and folded his arms.

"Was I meant to understand that?" Seabreeze asked. Discord felt a bead of sweat run down the side of his head. Discord suddenly got a brilliant idea. It wasn't exactly telling the truth, but it wasn't a lie, either, it was right in between. He knew that didn't make any sense but what fun was there in making sense?

"You have to come to Equestria immediately. Fluttershy needs your help," He half lied-half told the truth. Fluttershy did need Seabreeze to come to Equestria, but so did everypony else, so it wasn't strictly a lie. Seabreeze's face turned from stern to worried in a heartbeat.

"How do you know Fluttershy?" He asked. Discord began to hyperventilate. Was Seabreeze deliberately trying to stall him? No. How could that be? He probably hadn't noticed all of the breezies surrounding the portal and chatting loud enough to wake up an entire cave of dragons. Okay, granted he had seen the portal. Then why hadn't he said anything? UGH! Why was everything so confusing? Maybe Seabreeze was just thick?

"Long story, I was a statue, she made me turn evil beavers back to normal and rejected my ice skating invitation, now let's go!" Discord began dragging Seabreeze away. Seabreeze began to protest but knew that there was no way to escape the draconequus-turned-breezies grasp. He turned and called something out to his wife, who waved.

"What did you just say?" Discord asked. Man, he had to learn Breezian, or whatever the breezie language was called.

"I just told her I'll be back in time for dinner," Seabreeze replied. Discord decided not to tell him that the chances were that tracking down and defeating an evil villain would take longer than a few hours. A few breezies began pestering Seabreeze, most likely asking him what was with the portal and where he was going. Seabreeze yelled something at them and allowed Discord to drag him through the portal, just before it closed. Discord was so relieved to see that he was a draconequus again and back in the hidden room with Seabreeze and Rainbook, who was splayed out on her back, sweating and panting.

"What…took so…long?" Rainbook gasped out, wiping sweat from her brow. Discord put his mismatched hands on his hips and glared at the young unicorn.

"For your information, I wasn't gone that long at all!"

Rainbook got up shakily to her hooves. "Well, time sure goes by slowly when every ounce of your strength is being sapped from your body while you're casting and incredibly complicated spell while under a lot of pressure!" Rainbook ranted, having to gasp for breath after her long speech. She did have a point.

"Anyway, I found Seabreeze!" Discord snapped his eagle claw and a 'Welcome' banner appeared above their heads. Seabreeze was busy examining his surroundings.

"This isn't where the portal usually is," he said. "Where are we?"

"We don't know," Discord replied honestly. Seabreeze looked a little irritated. "In fact we have no idea how to get out of here," Suddenly, he realised what he'd just said. It was true. They barely knew how to get into this place, so how were they meant to know how to leave. He met Rainbook's worried purple eyes and the two of them broke into a panic.

"What are we gonna do? We're gonna be stuck in here forever!" Rainbook hopped from hoof to hoof. "I'm claustrophobic, too. We're doomed!"

"I didn't even get to eat all the pancakes I was meant to have for breakfast!" Discord moaned. Rainbook stopped worrying for a second to speak.

"That! That's your dying thought?" the unicorn roared. Discord folded his arms.

"Yes! They were very good," he told her. Their argument was interrupted by Seabreeze.

"Ahem," He coughed politely. "I know that I'm new to this place and all, but don't you think we should try the door that says 'exit'?" The breezie asked, gesturing behind him to a crystal door that had the words 'exit' across it. Discord blushed.

"Um…thanks," Rainbook sheepishly giggled. She opened the door and led the way out. They were, according to Rainbook, in Twilight's basement. How had Twilight not noticed this door? As he looked closely at the other side of the door, he noticed that it just looked like part of the wall. There was no doorknob, meaning that the door could only be opened from the other side.

Clever.

"This way," Rainbook led the way back up to the library. They paused outside it to eavesdrop on what the others were saying.

"How long have they been gone?" Fluttershy asked, sounding worried. Rarity sighed.

"Twenty minutes," She reported. He heard pacing followed by a growl like sound.

"Can ya please stop that pacin', Rainbow? It's getting irritatin'." Applejack ordered. The pacing suddenly stopped.

"I'm just a little worried about them. Do NOT tell Discord I said that," The cyan pegasus told Applejack.

"We're all worried about them," Fluttershy reassured Rainbow Dash. Rainbow began yelling.

"All the times I said that I wanted him to disappear I didn't really mean it!" She called out to the heavens. Discord decided that then was the right time to walk into the room.

"Aw, Dashie, I'm touched that you care so much," He said smugly. Rainbook and Seabreeze followed him in. Pinkie Pie gathered Rainbook into a tight hug and Fluttershy gasped when she saw Seabreeze.

"Seabreeze! How did you get here?" The pink maned pegasus asked, patting the breezie gently on the head.

"Those two friends of yours cast some spell that opened a door to my dimension," Seabreeze replied. Discord glowed with pride.

"Yeah," The draconequus said nonchalantly, puffing out his chest. "Rainbook cast the spell and I did all the hard stuff," He explained. Rainbook shot him an angry look.

"Speak for yourself, I'm gonna have a migraine for days," she groaned, rubbing her head. Pinkie Pie squeezed Rainbook harder.

"Great job on casting that spell, Rainbook; after we're done here we should throw you a 'well done' party!" The enthusiastic pink earth pony planned. Cheese Sandwich nodded in agreement. Seabreeze looked Fluttershy up and down.

"They said that you were in trouble, but you seem fine to me," Seabreeze stated, raising a suspicious eyebrow.

"Well, we are in trouble and we need your help," Fluttershy replied. "There's a bad guy-"

"Girl," Discord corrected his friend.

"-who's trying to take over Equestria and Princess Celestia thinks that you and five other ponies have to stop her," Fluttershy explained.

"If only I had a nickel for every time we've explained that to somepony," Discord thought. He counted the amount of times in his head and shrugged. "I thought I'd have more than that. Maybe I could buy a candy bar."

"Pfft. Is this meant to be a joke?" Seabreeze asked. Discord thought back to earlier today. That was exactly what Spitfire had said when he had told her about all of this. "I've got more important things to do that be the target of a prank. So, I'm going home," Seabreeze then realised that he couldn't until Rainbook opened the portal. "Hey, Shortie, can you zap me back home, again?"

Rainbook muttered something under her breath. Discord knew that the young unicorn was very sensitive about her height. She had quite a small frame for a pony of her age. Seabreeze calling her 'shortie' must not have helped.

"I don't think I could manage it again…not for a while anyway," Rainbook admitted. "I'm still pooped from the last time."

"Well, then how do I get home?" Seabreeze asked, frustrated. Applejack stepped towards the breezie.

"You're not goin' home. Equestria is in danger and it'll stay that way if ya don't stop complainin'!" The orange earth pony spoke with menace in her voice. Seabreeze looked a little frightened. Discord didn't think that Applejack could successfully say 'boo' to a goose, but to a breezie, something as large as a pony must seem pretty scary due to the height difference. He realised that Seabreeze could be crushed by one of the ponies hooves. He then realised that Applejack was still ranting. "Ah am the Element of Honesty and ah'm honestly saying that there's a bad guy who needs to be stopped and you are most certainly one of the ponies- um- the breezie who needs to stop Eris!"

Seabreeze shifted his eyes around awkwardly. He then looked Applejack in the eyes, looking as determined as a breezie possibly could, which wasn't very. "You say there are five other ponies that need to kill this 'Eris'. So, who are they? Are they here?" He asked.

"Well, most of them," Rainbow Dash swept her gaze over Discord, Spitfire, Coco Pommel and Cheese Sandwich.

"Well, if they believe this story, then I will," Seabreeze squeaked. Cheese Sandwich eagerly stepped forward.

"The name's Cheese Sandwich," The earth pony greeted, shaking Seabreeze's tiny hoof the best he could. He turned to Spitfire, Discord and Coco. He pointed a hoof at Discord.

"This here's Discord…"

"Well, we've already met," Discord pointed out, not needing to be introduced the breezie twice. Seabreeze waved in greeting anyway before Cheese Sandwich turned to Spitfire.

"This is Spitfire, the captain of the Wonderbolts," Cheese Sandwich was actually acting formal for a change. Discord had expected him to goof up the introductions. Spitfire nodded at Seabreeze, though her jaw dropped when he asked what the Wonderbolts were. Before Spitfire could explain, Cheese Sandwich introduced Coco to Seabreeze.

"And last but not least, this is Coconut," Cheese greeted, bouncing to the off-white earth pony's side and wrapping a hoof around her neck. Coco blushed with embarrassment.

"Actually, it's Coco Pommel. But, Coco's fine," She corrected Cheese, who was beginning to make her look uncomfortable. Discord had forgotten about the nickname that Cheese Sandwich had asked to call Coco and had presumed that he had too, but once again, he was wrong. Cheese then gestured to Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy and Spike.

"You must already know these guys," he assumed, to which Seabreeze nodded. The breezie looked in the direction of Rainbook, who was levitating books back onto the shelves again.

"So, Shortie, what was your name, again?" Seabreeze asked her in that squeaky accent of his. Rainbook grunted at the whole 'Shortie' thing again.

"It's Rainbook," She replied, arranging the books on the shelf in alphabetical order. Discord swore that she was turning into a mini Twilight.

"That's an odd name," Seabreeze spoke his mind. Discord liked ponies who spoke their mind but Seabreeze was acting a little mean. Rainbook sighed as if she had been teased for her name a bunch of times before, which she had.

"I can't help my name," She muttered, returning to reshelving the books. Discord felt a pang or sorrow for the teenage unicorn. Rarity trotted over to her and placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, darling. We've all had some nasty comments made about our names before," She said.

"You probably haven't. Rarity's a great name," Rainbook replied. Rarity had a look on her face that practically said: 'Too true," But didn't speak the words aloud. Discord felt his chaotic side scold him for caring about Twilight's student. He was mad at Seabreeze, but knew that he couldn't swat a member of his own team, no matter how badly he wanted to.

"So, you four are all part of this 'team of super ponies'?" Seabreeze asked Discord, Cheese Sandwich, Spitfire and Coco, looking bewildered.

"Yes," They all said simultaneously. Seabreeze babbled a few random syllables before saying an actual sentence.

"It's not a lie!?"

"No," they all said together again. It was beginning to freak Discord out.

"Your world really is in danger!?" They were about to reply when Seabreeze raised a hoof. "And if you all say it at the same time again I might actually slap you all!"

Discord chuckled at the feisty breezie's threat. It wasn't like he could do them any real damage. Seabreeze then spoke the thought that Discord had been having for some time now.

"So, there's five of us, so where's the last one?" Finally, Seabreeze believed them all. At least he was taking it well. Suddenly Discord gasped silently. Seabreeze was right; he only had one more pony to find and then they could all go and defeat Eris.

Already?

Discord looked outside. The sun was quite low in the sky and Discord guessed that it was around five O'clock. Discord had done so much today, He'd been to Cloudsdale, Winsome Falls, Manehattan, Canterlot and the Breezie Dimension, he'd found out he was the leader of a team of super-ponies, he'd discovered his old teacher had returned…

All in one day!

And what a day it had been!

Discord couldn't believe that only yesterday, he was walking around Ponyville with Fluttershy, bored as can be, only yesterday he was asking the Mayor if anything exciting was happening, only yesterday he had sat staring out of Fluttershy's window wishing on a star that his life would be more exciting.

Then it hit Discord like a freight train.

His wish had come true!

If this wasn't exciting, he didn't know what was. He had thought that wishing upon a star was a bunch of baloney; but if it was, it was the best baloney ever.

"Yeah, guys, where is this last pony?" He asked determinedly, feeling more cheerful than he had in his whole life. He wondered if this was what Pinkie Pie felt like permanently.

…

"Why…"

Discord pricked his ears up. It sounded like Spitfire had just said 'why'?

He, Spitfire, Cheese Sandwich, Coco Pommel, Seabreeze and Applejack were preparing to teleport. They had made a few phone calls and they had gotten a lead as to where this 'Silver Shill' might be. A stallion had said that he'd come across an earth pony who had a name like that at the Rainbow Falls Scrap Sale.

The Rainbow Falls scrap sale was an event that happened one day each month where ponies could sell their unwanted items. It was kinda like the Rainbow Falls Traders Exchange only not as busy. As soon has Applejack had packed her saddlebags with snacks, which was great since Discord was so hungry he could eat a horse! He suddenly remembered that he was surrounded by horses.

Bad choice of words.

Applejack walked out the boutique door, strapping her saddlebags around her waist. "Alright, ready to go, everypony?"

"Yes!"

"No."

Spitfire shifted her eyes awkwardly, realising that she was the only one who'd said no. She stood straighter. "I meant yes," She corrected herself. Discord couldn't help but feel suspicious, but he didn't have time to ponder Spitfire's baffling behaviour because everypony was gathering around him ready to teleport. Coco whimpered and began whispering.

"I am in my happy place; I am in my happy place…"

Cheese Sandwich placed his hoof around her again. "Hey, did anything bad happen the first time you teleported?" He tried to reassure her. Coco was too petrified at the thought of teleporting again to bother about Cheese Sandwich ignoring her personal space; she actually huddled closer to him, earning a quiet squee from Cheese. Discord rolled his eyes, just wanting to teleport. With a snap of his eagle claw and a squeal from Coco they were gone.

When the bright light from the teleportation spell had faded, they were in a beautiful village littered with rainbow waterfalls. It was like Winsome Falls, only bigger. Cheese Sandwich had the goofiest smile Discord had ever seen since Coco was now hugging him for dear life. Applejack prodded the off-white earth pony.

"It's okay, sugarcube, we're here now," the orange earth pony patted Coco gently on the shoulder. Coco sighed in relief as she realised that they were all okay.

"Thank Celestia," She breathed, teetering away. They began walking towards the Scrap Sale. Spitfire walked beside Discord, grumbling angrily:

"Why Rainbow Falls? It had to be Rainbow Falls. There are plenty of other places that are nice this time of year…like Tartarus."

"Something wrong, my dear co-captain?" Discord asked teasingly. Spitfire glowered up at Discord.

"Of course not!" She snapped. "Why would anything be wrong? I'm having the time of my life."

Discord stroked his chin. "So you'd rather save the world with us that practise with your Wonderbolt buddies?" He questioned her.

"Yes," She said. That was it.

"Really?" Discord exclaimed. "You have a choice between us and your celebrity pals and you still choose us?"

"Yes," Spitfire repeated, beginning to look irritated. Discord's jaw dropped. He'd probably pick the Wonderbolts.

"But, even you have to admit: Three earth ponies, a Wonderbolt, a breezie and a draconequus? We look like the start of a bad joke! And the Wonderbolts still aren't as good as us?"

Spitfire halted and Discord stopped, too. She looked up at him. "Being famous isn't all that great, Discord. It's fun at the beginning but it starts to get dull," She explained.

"But it sounds amazing. I'd love your job!" Discord was really telling the truth.

"You don't understand. You have to wake up every single morning, usually before Celestia raises the sun, you practise for hours without resting, maybe do a few air shows, practise again, go to sleep super late then wake up and do it all over again the next morning," She told him.

Discord was surprised.

"I love my job, I really do. But, I just wish that it wasn't so exhausting," She admitted.

"Well, that does explain the bags under your eyes," Discord smirked at her. Spitfire looked confused.

"What bags?" She asked. She then looked down and saw two paper bags. "That doesn't even make sense!" She kicked the bags away. Discord smirked at her again.

"What fun is there is making sense?" He asked, making Spitfire roll her eyes. "Though, I suppose you wouldn't know, being the 'fun police' and all."

Spitfire looked appalled. "I am not the fun police. I have plenty of fun," She insisted. "Anyway, back to our old conversation, being famous isn't all it's made out to be."

"You make being famous sound terrible," Discord frowned again. He thought that being a Wonderbolt sounded amazing.

"It's not the hard work that bothers me, though…" Spitfire sighed. Discord realised that this was the first time that Spitfire had truly opened up to him. He had to admit that he hadn't thought much of her at the start, but now he respected her a little.

"Well, what does bother you?" Discord asked. Spitfire looked up at him.

"Why do you even care?" She asked, sneering. Discord pondered the question. Why did he care? She was just some pegasus who happened to be part of his team of 'super ponies' as he liked to call them. Try as he might, Discord couldn't answer the question.

"I don't know why I care…I just do," He said, simply. Spitfire turned her head away and closed her eyes, trying to hide her emotions behind them.

"What bothers me is that everypony looks up to me and respects me. Especially since I'm the Wonderbolts captain, which means that everypony expects me to make the tough choices," She paused, opening up her eyes to reveal pure fury. Discord could have sworn that her brilliant orange eyes were actually on fire from all of the anger that he could see in them. She stood straight and looked right at Discord with that menacing glare, which actually frightened him a little.

"Stop being a pussy," He scolded himself.

"…and if you make one wrong decision, then suddenly everything blows up in your face and everypony hates you! Then you need to publish long explanation article in the newspaper just to be forgiven by those who looked up to you, and even after that, ponies still say terrible things about you and doubt you even though you have said a thousand times that you're sorry! Then, when you finally stop feeling guilty about that one bad decision, some jerk will come along and say something like 'she should like totally not be captain anymore', then suddenly all the guilt comes flooding back ALL BECAUSE OF ONE BAD CHOICE!" Spitfire stopped ranting and began hyperventilating.

The fire in her eyes died out, leaving her there looking completely different. She didn't look like a raging hate-filled machine anymore. She just looked like a lost puppy that had been kicked too many times. Spitfire turned away from Discord and stared at the ground. Discord felt his heart well with sorrow for her. She then spoke once again, her voice cracking as if she was on the verge of tears.

"Ponies may forgive you…but you'll never be able to look at the ones you hurt without feeling guilty…"

Discord began to ache for her. That was exactly how he felt whenever he looked at Fluttershy sometimes. Fluttershy was his best friend in the whole world, but sometimes he couldn't help thinking of how much he'd hurt her when he'd helped Tirek capture them. The memory echoed in his head now.

"Why are you doing this? I thought we were friends!" Fluttershy sobbed.

"Oh, we were. But Tirek offered me so much more than just tea parties. Surely you saw this coming," He had replied.

Fluttershy began weeping into Applejack. "I didn't. I really didn't."

Discord always noticed how the ponies said cruel things about him to eachother and sometimes Discord felt that it was him against the world. He felt like he could never be forgiven for what he'd done and he'd never forgive himself either.

Was this how Spitfire felt?

The yellow pegasus was blinking rapidly, probably trying to keep her tears in. Discord wrapped his tail comfortingly around her.

"I know how you feel," He told her. She turned to meet his gaze. "I guess we're both in the same boat," With a snap of his eagle claw, the two were sitting in a rowboat wearing paper hats. He snapped his claw again, intending to feel grass beneath his mismatched feet again; instead, they were in a plane.

"Wait, what?" Discord snapped again. Now they were in a car. "Um…one second," He snapped again and again. He wanted to be on the ground again, not on random modes of transportation.

Snap!

Skateboard

Snap!

Submarine

Snap!

Train

Snap!

Bus

Snap!

Hot air balloon

Snap!

Grass

Snap!

Helicopter

Snap!

Fire truck!

Wait!

He went back two.

Snap!

Helicopter again

Snap!

Grass!

"Whew!" Discord wiped sweat from his brow. "Sorry about that. Chaos magic has a mind of its own, sometimes," He shrugged. Suddenly, a pineapple appeared on his head and Spitfire tilted her head in confusion.

"See what I mean?" He began trying to snap the fruit away again.

Snap!

Banana

Snap!

Potato

Snap!

Watermelon

Snap!

Nothing

"Finally! When you're reformed, your magic does tend to get a little out of control," Discord explained. Suddenly, a tomato appeared on his head. Discord slammed his head into the ground in frustration making the tomato explode all over his face.

"Darn it!" He cursed.

Then he heard it.

She laughed!

Discord looked at Spitfire like she had just told him the end of the world was near. She suddenly realised she was laughing and hastily covered her mouth. Discord rolled his eyes and slapped her hoof away from her mouth.

"Hey, I love a good laugh, so don't be afraid to laugh around me," He teased her. Suddenly-

"What're you two doin'!?"

Discord and Spitfire turned to see Applejack and the others.

"You two just vanished! Less talkin' more walkin'!" Applejack bossed them around. Spitfire rolled her eyes and picked up the pace so she could catch up with the others, she walked beside Coco, who eager began a conversation with her. Discord walked alongside Cheese Sandwich and Seabreeze while Applejack led the ways through the Scrap Sale.

"So, why did you two just stop like that?" Seabreeze questioned him. Discord just shrugged.

"Beats me, she was just a little down about something," He replied honestly, sinking low to the ground.

"Hmm, maybe I should throw her a 'Cheer up' party?" Cheese Sandwich suggested. "There could be candy and cakes and ice cream and punch and a bouncy house and-"

"Spitfire doesn't seem like a party pony," Discord told him. He was still sticking to his guts that the Wonderbolt captain was also the captain of the fun police.

"That's TERRBILE!" Cheese Sandwich gasped grimly. "I'll go find out," He began prancing to catch up with Spitfire. It amused Discord how much he acted like Pinkie Pie.

"So, there are twelve Wonderbolts?" Coco was asking her.

"Yeah, me, Soarin, Fleetfoot, Misty Fly, Rapidfire, Su-"

"SURPRISE!"

"Gah!" Spitfire and Coco exclaimed as Cheese Sandwich popped up in front of them and threw confetti all over them.

"I just saw my life pass before my eyes," Coco puffed, clutching her chest.

"Oooh, tell me about it, I love learning new things about ponies," He smiled widely at the two mares.

"Ugh, Cheese, could you go and bug somepony else?" Spitfire groaned.

"I just really want to cheer you up," Cheese told the yellow pegasus, who eyed Discord suspiciously.

"Why would I need cheering up?" She asked him sternly.

Cheese shrugged. "Discord just said that you were upset about something."

"Did he now?" Spitfire glared at the draconequus with the fury of a thousand Windigo's.

"Yep," was all that Cheese Sandwich said. Spitfire just stormed on, staring straight ahead, Coco picking up the pace to keep up with her. The Scrap Sale was pretty packed, though Discord didn't really know for sure since he'd never been there before. For some time they wandered through the maze of stalls. There was pretty much anything under the sun there.

You could buy furniture, animals, food, books, lamps (Discord was touched when he saw a pony selling lamps that looked like him), knick-knacks, knickety-knacks, knick-knakery noo's, and all sorts of knicky-knacky noodles.

Discord was beginning to think that they'd been set off on a wild goose chase when Applejack called out to the others-

"I see him!"

Discord stretched his neck up so he could see they pony that Applejack was pointing at. In the direction she was pointing Discord could see a bored looking light grey earth pony with a black and white striped shirt on. His stall was stacked with costumes, wigs and glasses. He wondered where he'd got all of this stuff.

He, Applejack and the others approached the stall eagerly. Applejack put her hooves up on the stall and addressed the stallion.

"Howdy there, partner. Long time, no see," She greeted. The stallion, who was hopefully Silver Shill, didn't look up from his stall.

"Welcome to Shill's Stuff, we've got-" The stallion finally looked up and got a shock.

"Applejack!" He exclaimed, leaning so far on the stall that the cloth he had laid on it slid off along with the stallion himself and all his stuff. Discord cringed at the clumsy stallion. Boy that was humiliating. The stallion crawled out from under the pile of costume items and dusted himself down.

"What're you doing here?" He asked. "I never thought I'd see a pony like you 'round these parts."

"Well, normally, ya wouldn't, Silver Shill, but ah made an exception on account of there's somethin' ya need to know," The orange earth pony replied, flicking some dust of the stallions shirt.

"Um…go on," He told her. Discord groaned silently at the thought of having to explain all of this again. He decided to distract himself by any means possible. He looked around with glee at the ponies that were with him. He'd just realised that all of them were there; all six of the ponies that would supposedly save Equestria:

Spitfire, the tough Wonderbolt Captain with a fierce temper and his deputy, who was obviously a great fighter as shown by her brave actions in Manehattan…

Cheese Sandwich, the greatest party planning pony in Equestria besides Pinkie Pie who would most likely stick by their sides no matter what happens…

Coco Pommel, the shy Earth pony who recently lost her job and was hoping to make up for it by defeating Eris. Discord could tell that if she opened herself up a little more, she could be a great addition to the group…

Seabreeze, the tiny breezie with the mouth the size of an entire city, who would probably kick some serious flank if their enemies were small enough…

Silver Shill, who he barely knew, but in the short amount of time that he had been in the presence of the grey earth pony, he could tell that he was pretty clumsy, but his tough appearance should make up for it…

And finally, him, Discord who would lead his group to victory no matter what challenges they came across. He would defeat Eris and return a hero, and would never be badmouthed again!

He thought of the impact that defeating Eris would have on his team. Coco Pommel would probably get her job back. If she didn't, then her boss was an idiot, Seabreeze would probably get squished, but if he didn't he would prove that size doesn't matter once you've saved the world, Silver Shill would…actually Discord wasn't sure yet, Spitfire would prove to those ponies who disliked her that she was a hero after all, Cheese Sandwich would…probably stay exactly the same and Discord himself would be the new saviour of Equestria!

"Discord!"

The draconequus was snapped by his thoughts by Applejack.

"Ah said, it's true, isn't it?"

Discord had realised that they'd gone past the whole 'not believing' part and they were onto the bit where they all had to say it was the truth. He sighed, not wanting to have to suffer all of this again.

"Of course it's true, Silver Shill, you're talking to the Element of Honesty for pony's sake. It she's not telling the truth, who is?" Discord replied, a little harshly. Silver Shill cleared his throat and turned to Applejack.

"So, I'm familiar, with you and Spitfire the Wonderbolt," Silver Shill waved at Spitfire who nodded back in greeting. "…But who are these guys?" He gestured at Discord, Seabreeze, Coco and Cheese. Discord stepped forwards.

"I'm Discord: Master of Chaos and leader of…well you guys," Discord hadn't thought of a clever name for his team yet. He snapped his fingers and a business card appeared in his lion paw. He handed it to Silver Shill who quickly scanned it.

"Member of the Ponyville tap class?" He snickered. Discord blushed. He had been meaning to get rid of that part.

"That's a misprint," Discord insisted grabbing the card back and stuffing it in his ear, though it was too late since the others were all snickering at him. Discord huffed irritably and turned back to Silver Shill.

"Anyway, this is Seabreeze," Discord patted the breezie's head. Seabreeze snapped something in Breezian at him.

"Yes. I'm the chief of the breezie tribe and you're free to join me in not doing anything this nutter tells us to do unless it's absolutely necessary," Seabreeze greeted, pointing a hoof at Discord. The master of chaos grumbled. Maybe leading certain members of the group would be harder than he thought.

"This is Coco Pommel," Discord placed his tail on the shy earth pony's shoulder. She smiled softly at Silver Shill who waved.

"Hi," Was all that the fashion pony said. Discord had known that she was shy, but to be ashy around a goofball like Silver Shill was ridiculous. He had only known the grey stallion for a few minutes be he seemed really nice.

"And this is Cheese Sandwich," Discord stretched his tail even further to coil it around the excitable earth pony's neck.

"Hi! It's great to meet ya," Cheese began shaking Silver Shill's hoof vigorously. "You look like you have a good memory. Remind me to throw an epic Welcome Party when we get back to Ponyville. It's not like I'll need anypony to remember for me, though, I just felt like asking you."

"Yeah…great," Silver Shill stared forlornly at his now sore hoof as Cheese finally stopped shaking it. "So, I need to help you guys save Equestria. What an honour!" Silver Shill grinned. Discord was relieved that he'd missed the boring conversation about how this sounded ridiculous but was true.

"Yep!" Cheese Sandwich leaped to his side. "We'll travel across Equestria on a mission of life or death, maybe doomed not to return, but one the bright side if we do we can all go out and get ice cream to celebrate," Cheese Sandwich tried to give Shill a pep-talk. Silver Shill did look a little uneasy at this and so did Coco, who was now trembling like a leaf in the wind. Spitfire rolled her eyes.

"Don't listen to him. He's one stick short of a lollipop," She said.

"MMMM! I love lollipops," Cheese Sandwich licked his lips. Spitfire gave him an uneasy glance before continuing.

"We're not gonna get killed. The chances of us being slaughtered on his mission are almost nothing."

Discord had no idea how she could be so sure of that. Then it occurred to him that she might have been trying to reassure herself as much as the others.

"Thank Celestia for that," Coco breathed. Seabreeze perched himself on her shoulder.

"Lass, there's no reason to be scared when you've got me on your side," Seabreeze let out a war cry and began throwing a few punches. Discord let out a snort at his behaviour. The breezie was the most un-threatening thing he had ever seen. He'd seen Fluttershy look more threatening whilst she was having a panic attack. Coco smiled at the breezie.

"Thanks, Seabreeze," She giggled, stroking Seabreeze gently, obviously finding the breezies overprotectiveness as amusing as he did. Discord could have sworn he'd heard Seabreeze purr.

"That feels good; can you get me around the shoulder blades?" Seabreeze sighed at the feeling on the mare's gentle strokes. Coco laughed and began rubbing him gently on his back. Discord couldn't wait until he told Fluttershy that breezies behaved similar to cats at times.

"We should be gettin' back before the others start getting' worried," Applejack told them. "We'd probably be back by now if it weren't for certain ponies slowin' us down!" Applejack glared at Discord and Spitfire, who just nonchalantly looked away. Coco turned pale at the mention of returning.

"You mean…teleporting again…oh no…" the off-white mare gulped. Silver Shill, on the other hoof, looked thrilled.

"Cool! I've always wanted to teleport. It sounds amazing!" He exclaimed giving a little bounce. Coco looked at him like he'd said he was pregnant.

"Are you insane!?" She blurted out, which was unlike her. Silver Shill just shrugged.

"It just sounds fun," Was all he said, but it was enough to get Coco to babble like a mindless idiot. "So, yeah, we can leave as soon as I've cleaned up all this stuff," he added before grimacing at the pile of costume things on the floor. "That could take a while," He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Discord stepped forwards.

"No problem. Just watch," Discord snapped his eagle claw and suddenly all of Silver Shills things were on the stall again. Shill's jaw dropped. With another snap, everything was packed into a box.

"That was so cool," Silver Shill congratulated Discord.

"Finally, a pony who appreciates my magic," Discord thought as he began shrinking the box to a tiny size and putting it in Applejack's saddlebags. The orange earth pony was busy munching on an apple and Discord snickered a little at her messy eating. She noticed that they were all watching her and hastily wiped the apple juice from her chin, blushing. She threw her apple core away and it narrowly missed hitting Seabreeze, who cussed a little in Breezian.

"Well, Discord. You'd better teleport us back, now," She commanded him. Discord did a little pre-teleportation warm up before beckoning the others to gather around him. Coco resumed clinging to Cheese Sandwich while he smiled like an idiot. With a snap, they were gone.

…

When the light vanished they were outside the boutique once again. Silver Shill let out a whoop.

"Now that's what I call travelling," The grey earth pony cheered.

"Never…again…" Coco trembled. She was practically crushing Cheese Sandwich with her tight grip by now, by Cheese couldn't care less.

"C'mon Coco, you can let go now," Spitfire told her. Cheese flicked his hoof as if to tell Spitfire to leave Coco alone.

"Wait till she's ready to let go," he smirked, obviously enjoying every moment of Coco's fear. Spitfire rolled her eyes and trotted past Discord. She glared up at him.

"You better not have told them what I told you," Spitfire hissed at him. Discord scratched his head.

"But I still have no idea what you were so upset about," he admitted.

"Then let's keep it that way!" She ordered. As she was about to walk away Discord stopped her.

"If you don't want anyone to know you're upset, then why did you tell me you were angry?"

"I don't know!" Spitfire admitted. "I especially don't know why I told you; you're the first pony…or draconequus I've ever told."

Discord was a little touched at this. Of all the ponies she could have told, she'd told him, Discord, the master of chaos. Maybe she did trust him a little.

"I promise I'll keep it between you and me. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," Discord pinkie promised, smashing a cupcake into his eye. He licked it from his face. "Mmmm, red velvet," He smacked his lips at the tasty treat.

"Thank you," Spitfire whispered, so quietly that Discord barely heard it. He supposed that she wasn't used to saying thank you to ponies. For a moment he could have sworn he saw a ghost of a smile cross her face, but he blinked and it was back to its neutral stern expression. Coco had finally let go of Cheese Sandwich and was walking along beside Spitfire, resuming their earlier conversation about the Wonderbolts. Silver Shill, Cheese Sandwich and Seabreeze walked side-by-side.

"So, you like her, then?" Silver Shill asked Cheese, nodding his head in the direction of Coco.

"Duh!" Seabreeze rolled his eyes. "It's as clear as day for breezie's sake!"

"Well, of course I like her," Cheese Sandwich replied. "She's beautiful, smart, humble, sweet and beautiful."

"You said beautiful twice," Silver Shill pointed out.

"That's because she's twice as beautiful," Cheese grinned. Discord threw up a little in his mouth. He hated all of this wishy-washy-mushy stuff and wanted to talk about anything else.

"Really, guys, don't you want to talk about something that actually has a point to it?" Discord asked them, poking Silver Shill on his shoulder. This was the kind of things that fillies talked about at slumber parties, not full grown stallions.

"Of course this has a point to it Discord. Haven't you ever liked a mare?" Cheese asked him. Discord did a double take. He'd never been asked that before. The answer was clear to him.

"NO! I'm only just learning the basics of friendship for crying out loud!" Discord sounded appalled. To him, the idea of being in a relationship was disgusting. He had no interest whatsoever in all of this lovey-dovey nonsense. He'd choose one of Twilight's lectures on book organisation over this any day.

"Alright!" Silver Shill raised a hoof in defence. Discord stroked his goatee thoughtfully.

"How about we talk about what we'll do now. I mean, all six of us are here, so what do you think Celestia wants us to do?"

"Good question. Where do you think we'll have to go?" Seabreeze added.

"Who do you think we'll meet?" Cheese Sandwich butted in.

"When do you think we'll leave?" Silver Shill questioned. Applejack interrupted their conversation.

"When do ya think you four will stop jabberin' like a flock of parrots and get inside the boutique?"

"Sheesh, we're coming," Discord rolled his eyes at the mare's impatience. He and the others entered the boutique to find the others chattering like school fillies.

"Great, you're back!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed coming to greet them. Pinkie Pie sprung forward and began shaking Silver Shill's hoof.

"Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie and you must be Silver Shill. It's so great to meet you; you look like such a fun guy. Do you like parties, 'cause I love parties, hey, maybe we should throw a Welcome Party just for you!" She rambled.

"Great to meet you, too," Silver Shill clutched his hoof, which was now throbbing.

"Let's go plan the Welcome Party!" Cheese said to Pinkie Pie. Just as the two were about to leave, Rainbow Dash halted them.

"We have more important things to do right now, Pinkie," She reminded her.

"Something more important than a party!?" Pinkie gasped. "NEVER!"

"Um…doesn't defeating Eris sound more important than parties, Pinkie Pie?" Rarity questioned the pink earth pony.

"Oh yeah, whoopsie, I forgot," Pinkie replied, giggling. Applejack face hoofed.

"An evil villain is tryin' to destroy us all, and you just forgot?" She asked, bewildered.

"Forget about it, guys, she's just being Pinkie Pie," Spike shrugged.

"That aside…"Discord shoved Pinkie Pie to the side, making her crash into one of Rarity's mannequins. "…what should we do now?"

"Yeah, don't leave us in suspense," Seabreeze perched on Discords deer antler. Rainbow Dash exchanged glances with the other mane six ponies and shrugged.

"Princess Celestia never told us what to do once we found all six of you," She told them grimly. For a few moments they were silent before Spike spoke.

"Um…hello, have you forgotten who you're with. We can just send a letter to Princess Celestia and ask her what to do next," The purple dragon reminded them.

"Good idea, Spikey Wikey," Rarity cooed. "Why didn't we think of that?" Discord had no idea since it was such an obvious plan. Rainbook levitated a quill and a piece of parchment over to Spike.

"Can I compose the letter? I've always wanted to," Rainbook smiled widely and made puppy dog eyes. Even Discord had to admit that Rainbook could be drop-dead adorable when she wanted to be.

"Sure, knock yourself out," Rainbow Dash replied. Discord hoped that Rainbook wouldn't really knock herself out. Knowing the clumsy unicorn, she could, even if it was just composing a letter.

Rainbook cleared her throat before speaking.

"Dear Princess Celestia,

We are pleased to inform you that we have found the ponies that you had requested for us to seek out.

We would appreciate it if you would kindly tell us what we need to do now.

Your faithful subject,

-Rainbook."

Spike rolled the parchment up and blew his usual green fire onto it. The scroll disintegrated into a puff of green smoke and floated out the door.

"Well, while we wait, we should do something," Fluttershy suggested.

"Party?" Pinkie suggested putting on a huge smile. Applejack placed a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder.

"Ah think we should wait 'til after they beat Eris ta throw a party," She told the party planner.

"Yeah, good idea: A Congratulations On Saving Equestria From An Evil Magic Lady Who Makes Fruit Dance Party!" Pinkie Pie decided.

"That's a bit of a mouthful don't you think?" Discord asked with a mouthful of pancake. He had just remembered that he'd stashed some in his 'pocket' earlier that day when Fluttershy made them for breakfast. "Anypony want a pancake?" he asked, grabbing a couple out of the pocket he had made appear in his flank.

"Um…I'll pass," Coco inched away from Discord.

"Okay, more for me," Discord took another large bite out of one of the pancakes and licked his lips.

"I've got an idea better than a party," Rainbow Dash declared. She turned to Spitfire. "One lap around Ponyville?" She challenged the flame-maned pegasus. Spitfire narrowed her eyes determinedly.

"You're on," She agreed.

"We start on three. One…" Rainbow Dash began counting, spreading her wings. "TWOTHREE!" Rainbow Dash zoomed out of the boutique before Spitfire had a chance to react, though the Wonderbolt confidently whizzed after her.

"Well, this won't end well," Rarity groaned picking up the mannequin that Pinkie Pie had knocked over earlier.

"I'll say," Seabreeze sighed.

"Who do you think will win?" Silver Shill asked Discord, who shrugged. Up until he'd met Spitfire earlier that day, he had believed that Rainbow Dash was the fastest mare alive. But after he had seen the speed that Spitfire flew at, he was beginning to have second thoughts. Suddenly, Spike clutched his tummy.

"Lemme get that for you, Spike," Discord slapped the little dragon on the back with his tail and he belched out a puff of green smoke, which turned into a scroll with a flash of light. Spike grabbed the scroll and opened it. As he opened his mouth to read it out, two speeding blurs, one rainbow coloured, one the colour of fire charged into the boutique and crashed into the wall. Rainbow Dash and Spitfire let out a few groans before heaving themselves to their hooves.

"I won!" Rainbow Dash declared with pride. Spitfire dusted herself off.

"No way!" She argued.

"Ahem," Discord tapped the two bickering mares on the shoulder. "I believe it was a photo finish," He held up a picture of the two of them flying through the door at the exact same time.

"WHERE!?" Rarity gasped, looking around wildly. Everypony else stared at her like she had gone insane. Then it hit Rarity. "Oh, you didn't mean the Photo Finish. Heh heh. My bad…"

"A tie!" Rainbow Dash groaned. "Aw, come on!"

"That was awesome, Spitfire!" Coco congratulated the Wonderbolt, pulling her to the side. "Especially since Rainbow Dash had a head start. You're awesome!" She squealed like a fangirl and Spitfire awkwardly rubbed the back of her head.

"I try my best," Spitfire smirked, holding up her hoof. Coco hoof-bumped her friend eagerly and Discord let a tiny smile cross his face. He was glad that some ponies in his team were getting along. He hadn't really clicked with any of them. The only ponies in his team that Discord felt he could really get along with were Cheese Sandwich and Silver Shill.

He wondered if he'd see these ponies again after they'd got rid of Eris.

"Holy Celestia, Discord, stop it!" Discord mentally scolded himself.

There was no point in getting close to these ponies. All of them would leave as soon as their quest was over. Seabreeze would go back to his dimension, Cheese Sandwich would continue his travels, Spitfire would go back to Cloudsdale, Coco Pommel would return to Manehattan and Silver Shill would go anywhere that you could sell useless junk.

Every muscle in his body tried to fight it, but he found himself liking these ponies anyway. He hated himself. No he didn't. He hated them for making him so confused, though he still wanted to be around them. He hated how he felt joyful when he was with them and he hated them for making him feel something in his soul that he'd thought he would never truly feel: friendship.

Sure, he'd felt friendship before, especially when he was around Fluttershy, but this kind of friendship was stronger. His chaotic side pushed more and more negative thoughts into his mind.

Why did he have to care about them? Everything would be fine if he just stopped caring about them.

But…he couldn't stop caring about them. He liked that he cared about them. He loved that they would make him laugh and that they would sometimes appreciate his magic.

He didn't hate them.

No, he did!

Discord gripped his antlers in frustration. Everything was so jumbled up in his head. It was like his reformed self and his old evil self were having a raging war in his mind. He was torn from his thoughts by Spike clearing his throat and he realised that everypony was gathered around to hear what Princess Celestia had written.

"Rainbook, I am overjoyed that you have found all of these ponies, and in such good time.

You must come to Canterlot immediately-all of you- and bring the Elements of Harmony. I will tell you exactly what you must do when you arrive

-Princess Celestia"

"Well, let's go! Discord, ready to teleport again?" Rainbow Dash took up her position as leader once again.

"Meep," Coco squeaked.

…

"I've lost count of how many times I've said I HATE teleporting today," Coco puffed as she clung onto Cheese Sandwich tighter than ever before. Seabreeze perched on Cheese Sandwich's head. The brown maned earth pony was smiling the biggest smile ever.

"You okay, pal?" He asked him.

"Yep!" Cheese replied, still smiling. "She's cutting off my circulation, but I'm so HAPPY!" He whispered. Coco didn't seem to hear him.

The group had arrived in Canterlot. Discord had teleported them right outside the castle. As they approached the door, several guards escorted them inside, forming a circle around them like they were prisoners.

"Why is it that these guards never talk?" Discord asked Fluttershy. "I mean it's so irritating. They look at you but never speak and it just freaks me out," He ranted.

"You know, just because we don't speak, doesn't mean we can't hear every single word you say," A guard- a white pegasus stallion- barked, making Discord jump.

"For the love of Luna, warn me next time you're gonna do that," Discord clutched his chest. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Almost... bah," Seabreeze murmured. Discord turned to the tiny breezie.

"Oh, come on, it was just a joke," Seabreeze chuckled. Discord didn't know if the breezie meant it or not.

"I don't think you really understand the concept of a joke, Seabreeze. A joke is, like, a whoophie cushion, or a fake eye patch, or a chicken in your ear," Discord listed. Seabreeze tilted his head in confusion.

"A chicken in your ear? That can't be normal," The breezie said, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course it isn't normal. It's a chicken! Chickens are ridiculous," Discord reached over to Cheese Sandwich's ear and pulled a chicken out of it. Cheese felt his ear.

"Cool! Is there a pig in there, too?" He asked. "I could've had a whole farm in my ear and never known it!"

"Yeah…chickens are ridiculous," Seabreeze folded his arms. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie popped up in front of Discord.

"Oh my gosh, is that a chicken? Chickens are so funny," Pinkie rambled, making a chicken noise for extra emphasis.

"See," Discord turned back to Seabreeze. "Everypony thinks that chickens are hilarious. Seabreeze shook his head.

"I don't think anypony sane thinks that chickens are funny," he replied. Discord made the chicken vanish with a snap and continued trailing along beside Fluttershy.

"Isn't this exciting, Discord?" The butter yellow pegasus asked, smiling. "You're going to be a hero. I'm so proud of you!"

"Well, making ponies proud is kinda my thing," Discord bragged. The next thing he knew, they were being led into Celestia's throne room. Like before, the white alicorn and Luna were in there. Both of their faces lit up as they entered the room.

"Guards, you may leave us, now," Princess Celestia dismissed the guards with a flick of her hoof. This was the second time Discord had been in here, today. He caught a glimpse of the stained glass windows around the room and briefly wondered what would happen when she ran out of windows to put Twilight's victories on. Would she have to get an extension on her throne room?

Wait.

The windows!

Discord suddenly realised that if he beat Eris, he and his companions might get a window all of their own. He set his eyes on the window with an image of Twilight and her friends defeating him. He used his imagination to replace himself with Eris and the mane six with him and his new friends. That would be his favourite window. Suddenly, Discord heard his name and the image of his window melted in his mind like snow. He turned to Princess Celestia, wondering how much of the conversation he had missed.

"Are you ready?" She asked him.

"Yes," Discord punched the air. "…for what?"

"Really?" Rainbow Dash buried her face in one hoof. Discord blushed as he realised that he'd missed Celestia's entire pep-talk. He expected Celestia to scold him big-time but instead she just chuckled.

"We have found traces of chaos magic in the Frozen North, so we believe Eris is somewhere there, plotting her next move. You must go there at once," She repeated, not sounding irritated at all, which surprised Discord.

"Please say we don't have to teleport!" Coco threw herself at the Princess and clung on one of her long legs. Discord grumbled. This must be embarrassing for Coco.

"Don't worry, Coco Pommel, some of my guards have already tried teleporting there, to no avail. There seems to be a spell that prevents ponies from teleporting," Princess Celestia explained, placing a comforting hoof on Coco's shoulder.

"Does that mean we won't be able to get in at all?" Silver Shill questioned. Celestia hung her head.

"I don't know for sure. Chaos magic isn't the same as unicorn magic, so a protection spell should be difficult or even impossible for Eris to cast, right Discord?"

"True, I've never cast a protection spell before," Discord was a little humiliated at the fact that he'd never cast a protection spell. Truth be told, he'd tried before but had failed miserably.

"All will be well," Celestia promised.

"But what if it isn't?" Discord asked.

"It will be," How could Celestia be so certain?

"So, how do we get there?" Cheese Sandwich asked. "Don't tell me, train? No, a hot air balloon? Please say a spaceship!"

"Nothing like that, Cheese Sandwich," Princess Celestia led them to her balcony, where a chariot similar to the one she used for her travels around Equestria sat.

"Cool! So, is one of your guards going to fly us there?" Discord ran his lion paw along the soft red seat of the chariot, imagining the soft feeling of the material on his rump. He was going to be zooming into battle in complete comfort.

"Discord, I believe you already have enough wing power to pull a chariot," Celestia nodded at Spitfire who determinedly smiled back.

"I won't let you down, Princess," The Wonderbolt settled herself in the harness. "I'm ready to fly," She announced, spreading her wings.

"Hey!" Rainbook called out. "You forgot about these," She levitated the six elements of Harmony over to the remaining mane six ponies. Each of them took their element and Celestia took the Element of Magic.

"Girls, would you do the honours?" Celestia spoke to Twilight's friends. Rarity levitated her Element over to Coco and fastened it around her neck. Coco's eyes glowed as she marvelled at the purple diamond that was embedded in the golden necklace.

"This is my Element of Generosity. Please take care of it. I don't want to see one scratch on it," She teased. Coco chuckled and hugged Rarity tightly.

"I'll guard it with my life," She promised.

Rainbow Dash flew over to stand in front of Spitfire. She placed the necklace around the Wonderbolts neck and Discord could tell that she was trying not to squee at the fact that she was about to give a pep-talk to the captain of the Wonderbolts, when it normally would be the other way round.

"Stick by the others. Protect them. If you stay loyal to your friends you can accomplish anything," Rainbow Dash smiled at her idol. Spitfire smiled, getting that clouded look in her eyes again.

"I'll never be disloyal to anypony," She vowed, placing her hoof over her heart. "Wonderbolts' honour!" She gave Dash a hoof-bump before the cyan pegasus retreated back to the others repeating: 'ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!'

Pinkie Pie hopped over to Cheese Sandwich and placed the necklace around his neck. She looked him sternly in the eye.

"Now, Pinkie Promise me that you'll take good care of everyone, Cheese," Pinkie ordered him. "And don't forget to make some jokes every once in a while," She added. As if Cheese Sandwich could cease to amuse them all.

"I Pinkie Promise," Cheese Sandwich did the actions and accidentally poked himself in the eye. "OW! Pinkie Promises are painful," He laughed it off before springing over to the chariot. Fluttershy flapped over to Seabreeze, fiddling with her Element.

"This seems a little…big," Fluttershy hooped it around Seabreeze anyway. Suddenly, it began to shrink, making Fluttershy jump. Soon, the necklace shrunk enough to fit comfortably around the breezie's neck.

"Did you know this thing could do that?" Seabreeze asked, poking the pink butterfly shaped crystal embedded in the necklace with one hoof.

"I-I didn't," Fluttershy admitted. She stroked Seabreeze gently before he fluttered over to the chariot to join the others. Applejack put her necklace around Silver Shill's neck.

"Are ya nervous?" Applejack asked the grey earth pony. Shill shuffled his hooves.

"Honestly, yes, a little," He admitted. Applejack raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay, a lot nervous. Nothing this exciting has ever happened to me before."

"Ah think you'll do great…and when ah say that, ah am tellin' the truth," She smiled softly at him and Silver Shill blushed brightly.

"I won't let you down Applejack," He turned and began walking to the chariot. He turned and called over his shoulder: "Honestly!"

Discord felt Celestia's hoof on his shoulder and he turned to meet her gaze. She levitated Twilights Element of Magic, the Element that powers all of the others and placed it on his head.

"Does this crown make me look fat?" He asked striking a pose that was inspired by Rarity. Celestia chuckled.

"We both wish you the best of luck," She tapped her horn on each of his shoulders as if she was knighting him and Luna who hadn't spoken the entire time finally stepped forward.

"Do not let us down, draconequus," The Princess of the night said sternly.

"He won't," Celestia assured her sister before turning back to Discord. "Now, I believe your companions are waiting for you," She nodded in the direction of the chariot. Spitfire in the harness, Cheese Sandwich, Silver Shill and Coco Pommel in the seat and Seabreeze perched atop Coco's head. Discord approached the chariot.

This was it.

The adventure was beginning.

He looked over his shoulder at his friends: The two alicorn princesses, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Spike and Rainbook. All of them were smiling and waving at him. Discord jumped into the chariot and said the words:

"Mush, Horsey, mush!" He ordered Spitfire, who took off, jolting the chariot a little.

"Never call me that again," She called over her shoulder. The six companions ascended higher into the sky, towards the Frozen North, chattering excitedly. Discord looked over the back of the chariot to see the slowly shrinking shapes of the princesses and Twilight's friends. He specifically looked at Fluttershy. He could still see her eyes glowing with pride as she watched them ascend into the sky. Discord cupped his lion paw around his mouth and called out:

"I'll make you proud, Fluttershy!"

Then, as his friends on the balcony finally disappeared from view he heard her reply, so faint it was like the wind itself was whispering it.

"I know you will!"

To be continued…


End file.
